Let Me Just Say This (12 page)

“Thanks for letting the kids stay here for a couple of days. Here is some money in case they want to order out or something. I'll pick them up on Sunday.” Her mom took the money and put it on the dresser.

“You know you don't have to leave that money here. Your father and I love having our grandbabies here.”

“Lord, don't let them hear you call them that. They think I baby them enough as it stands.”

She kissed her mother on the cheek and headed into her dad's bedroom. He was sitting there beating Kayla in a game of spades.

She sat down and gave Kayla a hug from behind.

“Are you coming back?” Her father asked her. “You know you barely come over anymore. I miss talking to my favorite girl.”

“Don't be telling that girl that, that is exactly why she gives Kevin such a hard time,” Her mother yelled from her bedroom.

“What are you talking about? Ain't nobody said nothing about giving him a hard time.”

“Never mind,” her mother yelled.

Just like that an argument had started between her parents. She had gotten used to the petty arguing when she was younger, now it was just comical.

“You know your granddad cheats.” She told Kayla as she got up and kissed the top of her daughter's head.

“Granddad, you wouldn't cheat would you.” Kayla whined with a smile.

“Now why you go and tell that child that. Ain't nobody cheating but if she ain't paying attention; well that's her own fault.” He said as he grabbed the other king from the pile of cards on the bed.

“Hey Kev. You have got to come out and meet her. You are going to be pleasantly surprised.”

Kevin walked into the outer office and was surprised.

He had heard how nice on the eyes this woman was but she was really nice on the eyes.

“Miss Hardy?” Kevin said while extending his hand.

“Yes.” She looked up and into his eyes.

Kevin was speechless. Her beauty took his breath away. She was truly a breath of fresh air and that smile of hers could melt all the ice in Alaska.

“Kevin Goldman, how are you?” he said.

As she took his hand she looked him square in the eye. He was immediately impressed that this woman was not afraid to look a man in the eye and hold the stare.

“I'll let you finish up here and Ashley will show you around a bit. Then you can join Mr. Marbury and I in my office. Kevin walked back into his office.

“Well?” Black said.

“Man, she is hot.” Kevin answered.

“And the brotha is back.” Cory teased.

Kevin was working on his latest proposal for one of their clients and having trouble retrieving the file from the database. Rebecca had come in to offer her assistance. As she bent down to help him they stared into each other's
eyes. He whispered her name as his hands cupped her round ass and his tongue slid between the cleavage peeking out at him.

“Kevin, Kevin.” She touched his arm. “I think I found the problem. It seems you have two files with the same filenames.”

Kevin shook his head slightly to bring him back to reality.

“How stupid can I be?” he said.

“Don't worry about it. It has happened to me too.”

As she got up and walked away, Kevin followed her.

When she reached the door, she turned and before his brain could stop him, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard. She pulled away as if this had caught her by surprise and he felt his face flush with embarrassment.

“I am so sorry,” he said.

What she did next surprised him. She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and continued the kiss. When she broke from him she spoke before he could.

“Let me just say this: there is no need for you to be sorry. We are both adults and clearly we are attracted to each other. We have grown closer as friends. You have been there for me through my break up with Toni and I never thought I would become attracted to someone like you. So before you say something that you think you should, just know that I am fully aware of your marriage and of your commitment to it. “Whatever happens between us is between us.”

Before she could say another word, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her passionately. His hands explored her hips, her back, and her thighs and finally found her breasts. He raised her shirt and felt the soft material separating him from feeling her skin. He began to kiss her neck, and her breasts. Her hands were under his shirt, feeling his muscular arms and chest.

“Oh Kevin, I want to feel you inside me.”

He lifted her leg and fell to his knees. He raised her skirt and began to lick her panties.

“Please Kevin. Take me.”

His fingers slid inside of her and she let out a small moan.

“Oh yes Kevin.” She could barely stand up.

He stood and lifted her into his arms and carried her to the mahogany desk across the room. He sat her down and swept the papers to the floor. Before he pushed her back onto the desk, she put her hand on his chest. Kevin spoke before she could.

“Ok, I want you too, but not here. Not like this. Doing it right here, right now, would feel good. Damn good, but if we were in a nice big comfortable bed, that would feel even better and make it even more special.”

“Ok. You're right,” she said as he moved away from her.

“Let me make a call.”

“Sure. I'll be waiting.” She said as she walked to the door.

He picked up the phone and made a few calls, including one to Cheryl, telling her that he would be late. He walked towards Cory's office but noticed the lights off signaling that he was already gone for the day.

As Cheryl approached the building on the left, she began to rethink her decision to be there. Her thoughts were all over the place. Was she doing the right thing? Maybe she should just talk to Kevin and give him a choice of staying married or going to be with whoever was taking up most of his time.

She wiped her eyes, put on some makeup and found the suite number. She walked in and saw women of all ages sitting there. Her resolve was falling because seeing these women was like looking in a mirror. Her husband didn't beat on her on a regular basis and he only did it when she pushed him too far. She turned to leave but as she reached for the doorknob, the clerk came over.

“Can I help you?”

“I am sorry, I shouldn't be here.” She said as she turned the knob and opened the door.

“That is what a lot of women think,” the mild-mannered woman said. “Why don't you come on back and calm down for a moment, then let's see if you still need to talk to me, ok?”

The woman guided her away from the door and led her down the small hallway. They reached the spacious room and the woman gave her a bottle of water and allowed Cheryl to sit down in one of the oversized chairs.

Chery felt as if she needed to explain. “We start arguing and then he loses control of himself and he pushed me
and well…I should go.”

The mild mannered woman never stepped away from Cheryl. She kneeled down in front of her and placed her hand on Cheryl's knee. She spoke softly.

“Ma'am for all the times I have heard that most women say it after their husband or boyfriends hit them, it's always the same. And trust me; if it happens once, it will happen again.”

“I won't let it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I am not like any of these women. I have …” Cheryl started to say but the woman cut her off.

“Let me interrupt you. Most of these women have college degrees, and live in million dollar homes, and have decent jobs. Now tell me what you were about to say.”

Cheryl felt her face flush and she stumbled over her words, “Cause I won't let it happen again. I will call the police.”

“Did you call them this time?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because they would have arrested me, this time. This time I hit him first.”

“So that gave him the right to choke you?”

“No, but I provoked him. Look I'm sorry for taking up your time. I promise you will not be seeing me again.”

Cheryl stood and the woman stood also. She backed away and gave Cheryl room to move.

“I sure hope not,” the woman said as Cheryl started to walk away.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I hope I don't see you anymore, least not on the news for a totally different reason, but please feel free to call or come back if you ever need to talk.”

She reached onto the counter and pulled one of the business cards from the holder. She placed it in Cheryl's hand and watched as she walked out the door.

As Cheryl walked outside, the reality of her situation hit
her and she drove to the only person that would know how she was feeling.

Her best friend Dee.

She stood on Dee's doorstep and wondered how she would explain it this time.

She rang the doorbell again. As she stood there, she tried to think of how to talk to her friend.

She pressed the button one more time, but after no one answered and putting the note on the outside of the mailbox, she drove home.

As she pulled up in front of her home, she noticed two huge bouquets of roses sitting outside her door. She bent down and carried them into the house and wanted to throw them in the trash. It was just another way that Kevin wanted to make her forget what he had done.

She noticed in that moment that her house didn't feel like a home anymore. She sat the flowers on the table inside the foyer and stared at the walls. There were no pictures of what she liked hanging on the wall. The only art work that hung there was what Kevin had placed there. She wasn't allowed to hang pictures of the African art that she liked because he didn't want his house feeling like “Mustafa lived there” as he always said. There were no shoes lying by the door, no half eaten sandwiches or dishes on the kitchen counter. No coffee cups in the sink or even a smell. Everyone's house has a smell. Dee's house smelled of vanilla or fresh flowers, depending on her mood.

Cheryl walked into her bedroom and was instantly disgusted. How many nights had he lain on top of her, wishing that he was with the other woman? Hell, she wanted him to be someone else too but she knew she would never have Denzel, or Tyrese, so her fantasies were just that. She walked back downstairs and looked at the flowers she brought in. she took the card from the pink roses and read the card.

I hope these flowers help your mood.

She grew angry.

How dare he? It was a ‘mood' she was in? She guessed it couldn't be from him attacking her. No that would just be silly, wouldn't it?

She threw the card in the trash and snatched the card from the yellow roses. I hope you enjoy the beauty of these flowers, just as I enjoyed the beauty of your smile. Signed MTP.

It caused a smile to spread across her face. She stared at the card a little longer and moved the flowers to the island in the kitchen.

The phone started to ring and she answered it on the second ring, hoping it was Dee calling her.

“Hello?”

“Hello Cheryl?”

“Yes?”

“Hi, this is Matthew. I just wanted to check if you got the roses.”

“Huh? Yeah, I did, but how did you get my number, should I be calling the police?” Her smile was long gone because now she wondered if this man was a stalker, a killer or worse, a rapist.

Matthew gave a little chuckle. “No, no, no. I simply called information. Your number is listed and I wanted to make sure you got home alright.”

“Yep, getting home wasn't a problem.”

“Was there a problem?”

“Not that you need to be concerned about.”

“Why?”

“Look, thanks Matthew for the ride, and thank you for the roses, but you really shouldn't have. My husband will really …” she stopped herself when she realized what she was about to say.

“What?”

“Nothing, thank you I must be going.” She hung up quickly. She went back upstairs and took a shower, put on some shorts and decided to do some cleaning. She turned the ringers off on all of her phones and started the major cleaning that she felt needed to be done. She opened all of
the windows and snatched down the curtains. She picked up the phone and called the junk man. It had taken more than three hours to fill six Rubbermaid containers with sheets, curtains, toys, shoes, clothes and dishes. The doorbell rang and she struggled to get the container down the steps. She sat the tub down by the door to make it easy for the junk guys to take away then opened the door.

“I was worried about you.” Matthew said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“No need to be, you can leave.”

“I will not. Not until you tell me what happened when you got home. Then maybe you want to explain what happened to your neck and legs.”

She looked down and then hid herself behind the oak door.

“You really need to leave. The neighbors might see.”

“And what if they do?” What will they do? Report me to your husband? Let me guess what would happen then.”

“You need to get the hell away from my door and mind your business.”

“Oh, I am minding my business. But if I leave, my first phone call will be to the police to tell them that someone is being assaulted at this address.”

Cheryl noticed the woman with the small dog walking down the street. The dog began to bark as it came closer to her yard. The older woman looked much harder at them than she needed to, so Cheryl let him in.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Cochran.”

“Afternoon, just walking Coco.” The woman yanked the collar of the dog as she continued past.

Cheryl pulled the door open a bit more and he stepped in.

She stopped him, “You can stop there and, you have five minutes.”

“Then you'll want to answer fast.”

“What?” she asked him as if she didn't already know the question.