Chapter2
She blinked in surprise. “More?”
He chuckled. “Well, definitely more of you tonight, but I mean I want to know more about you. I know this is just supposed to be a hookup for us, but… I’m curious about you. Would you mind telling me a little bit more about yourself please?”
Celeste bit at her lower lip and he dropped his gaze, looking hungrily at her mouth. The smoldering gaze only lasted a second before he leaned forward and kissed her lips softly, savoring them before he leaned back and rested his head in his hand again.
She leaned up the same way that he was, laying parallel to him, facing him, their bodies warm and their legs entwined. He reached his free hand to her and traced his finger along her cheek. “What do you do?” he asked, moving his fingertip along the line of her lips and then down her chin and neck to her breasts, where his fingers stroked her almost delicately. Her nipple hardened at his slight touch, and he teased it with feather softness as he watched her.
She hadn’t intended on sharing her real life with him, only her body for a couple of hours, but as they lay there, side by side, there was a synergy between them; a chemistry and a magnetism that could not be denied, and she found herself wanting to share more of herself with him than she had.
Conversation about themselves made their situation truly intimate. Giving him a shy smile, she drew in a deep breath. “Well, I go to night school and I’m hoping to graduate soon with a bachelor’s and then find a way to go on for my master’s in business.”
He lowered a brow and looked at her curiously. “Why night school? Are you working during the day?”
“Yeah. I work at a grocery store. I’m a checkout girl at the register. The hours are somewhat flexible because the store is open twenty-four hours, but not flexible enough for me to go to school as much as I need to during the day to get the master’s degree. It’s a challenge. I don’t make much money at the store, but I’m willing to work hard for what I want, so I’m doing my best to try to get another job, you know, something that pays more that might be able to fit around a new school schedule for the next degree.” She rolled her eyes just a little.
“It’s hard to find a good paying job as a black woman. I know times should have changed enough by now that that shouldn’t be a problem, especially in this city, but it is. Racial barriers are alive and well, even in Atlanta. I don’t let it stop me, though. I just keep on going.” She lifted her chin slightly.
He frowned a little and considered what she was saying. “I had no idea it was still going on. I’d have thought it was part of our disgraceful history in this country.”
Celeste shook her head. “Oh, it’s there.” She felt things getting a little heavy between them, and decided to shift the conversation. “What about you? What do you do?”
His eyes held hers for a moment and he smiled gently. “Me? Oh… I’m an accountant for a big company in the city.”
She tilted her head a little as she looked at him and confusion flickered in her warm brown eyes. “You are? So…” She paused a moment as she took him in. “You’re a really good-looking guy with a really good job in the city…” She stopped for a moment and gave her head a shake as if doing so would make her confusion fall into place and make more sense. “So, what are you doing looking for a girl from my part of town? Honey, you know you could have anyone you wanted. I’m from the wrong side of the tracks! Why in the world did you come looking for me?”
It was him then who drew in the long breath. He reached his hand out to her and traced his fingertip down her cheek to her lips, and then he leaned forward to kiss them softly and slowly, stirring the heated embers in her again before he leaned back.
“You’re not wrong about that. There are women around me in my life who are interested in me, but they’re all about money and position, power and privilege. They’re extremely shallow. I want a real woman. A deep woman. I’ve come to learn that women who work hard and dedicate themselves are the most real. Nothing is handed to them, so they go after what they want, and they make it theirs. That’s the kind of woman that I am most attracted to, that I find irresistible. Someone like you. Someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to make her dreams come true.” He spoke with a serious tone, and she knew that he meant every word that he said.
She couldn’t help the smile that spread wide over her face. “Then I’m your kind of girl.”
He chuckled quietly and leaned forward to kiss her again for a long moment before laying his head back on the pillow. “You certainly are.” He chewed thoughtfully on his lower lip for a moment, and then leaned up on his elbow. “You know… if you’re interested, I could see about getting you a job at the company where I work. I know that with the bachelor’s degree you’d have a good chance at getting a much better job than the cashier position you’re in now. What do you think? Would you like me to see what I can do about maybe getting you placed at my company?”
Celeste could hardly believe her ears. “Are you serious? You’d really do that for me?” She wondered if he was just saying whatever he thought might impress her, but then again, they had already had incredible sex, so it wasn’t as if he needed to say or do anything to get further with her. She let herself wonder for a long moment if he was in earnest.
He smiled back at her, and she could swear that she saw in his eyes that he was being completely genuine with her. “Yes of course.” He peered closely at her. “I mean that. I’ll be glad to see what I can do. I have some friends in high places there. I bet I could help you find a good job there. Send me your resume and I’ll see what I can do. I mean it.” He gazed at her intently and she felt a bubble of hope begin to swell inside her chest.
“I’ll do it,” she answered with a little laugh. “I’ll send you my resume. Who knows, it might work. Maybe it’s really worth trying!”
“I can promise you that it is,” he told her confidently and then leaned close to her mouth again as he pulled her body near to him. “I’d be glad to do that for you.”
“Thank you,” she said softly as she formed her lips against his and began to kiss him slowly and sensually.
He slid his hands around her hips and rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him and then sliding his hands over her thighs and her full curves, squeezing gently as he grew hard against her.
“I want you again,” he murmured quietly against her mouth. “You’re so delicious.”
“I want you too.” Her voice was like black velvet and it made him moan from far down in his chest.
Her body was ready for him, and she rose slightly above him and slid him into her so very slowly, teasing him and kissing him as she took her time filling herself with him. When he was completely inside of her, they began to move again, slowly rocking with each other, and she arched backward, letting her head fall back as she reveled in the intense pleasure that he gave to her.
Kevin slid his hands from her ass up her torso to her breasts, cupping each one in his palms and massaging them firmly as he brought them to his open and hungry mouth. He bit and sucked at her dark nipples, seeming to grow more ravenous with her as she began to move much deeper and just a little faster with him.
Their bodies rocked and swayed, building up fires within and beads of sweat without, as each of them moaned in pleasure, losing themselves in each other for a long while, both of them realizing that neither one of them really wanted it to end, until at last their passions grew too feverish, and he held her fast to him as they shuddered and climaxed, their bodies tensing completely with pleasure and release.
They kissed soft and sweet for a long while afterward, and then she pushed herself up from the bed and dressed herself. He watched, laying uncovered before her, and she found herself wanting to go back to him and knowing that she absolutely couldn’t afford the extra time with him. Twice was going to have to be enough for the night, she told herself.
When she was fully dressed and stood before the mirror, tidying her hair and lipstick, he rose from the bed and went to her, standing behind her and looking over her shoulder at her reflection. She smiled at him and he set his hands on her hips and squeezed them firmly, pulling her against his hardening groin. With a shy sort of smile, he nuzzled her ear.
“I can’t seem to get enough of you. I love this dress on you, I really do, but I’d love it even more if I could take it off you and pull you back into bed with me.” He looked only slightly hopeful as he began to rub his erection against the backside of her. His hands left her hips and moved up to her breasts, cupping them over her dress from behind, his fingers squeezing the softness in them. Kevin kissed her neck softly and trailed his lips up the side of her neck to her ear.
“Are you sure you have to go? Right now?” he whispered, and slid one hand from her breasts down to the core of her, pressing his fingers against her dress and forming it over her between her thighs. “Once more? Please… let me have you just once more.” He sounded like a starving man, like a man who hadn’t had a meal in a month, like a man who was aching desperately, and she could feel just how much he was aching as he moved his solid, thick erection against the back of her dress. His fingers were firm on the soft sweater dress between her thighs and she let her head fall back gently against his shoulder as her heartbeat quickened.
“I want to… my god do I want to, but I have to go. I just can’t stay longer. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She wanted so much for him to slide her dress up and touch her skin instead of the material, but there was just no time for it.
“See me again,” he murmured in her ear. “Come back here and be with me again. Soon.” His husky voice had an urgent undertone.
“I will,” she said quietly, pulling away from him and then turning to face him. She gave him a smile and rose on the tips of her toes to lean up and kiss him once more. It was sweet and sensual. “That will have to hold you until we can do this again.” She gave him a wink and a grin and walked out of the hotel room, closing the door behind her.
With a still-pounding heart, Celeste made her way out of the hotel and back to her car, amazed that the night had gone so well. She hadn’t thought that it could be that good, that simple, that passionate, that delicious, and that a man as good-looking as Kevin was could share a night with her like they had just done, but it had happened, and she had loved every single moment of it.
She couldn’t remember the last time that she had felt such bliss in every part of her. She was totally awash in it, and she laughed at the notion of driving home with such a big grin on her face the entire way.
Her thoughts shifted back and forth between what had happened between them; those thoughts taking her breath away, and what he had said about getting her a job at his company. The possibility of it was almost too much to hope for, and she thought about all the ways that her life would change if it really happened. She told herself not to hope too much, because the possibility of it really happening was more than likely far from reality.
The buildings grew smaller, older, and more time worn as she left the area around the airport and headed back to her own apartment. It was as if the city where she lived was tired; as if it was so old and broken down that it could barely hold itself up anymore, and it seemed like no one who ran the city and made the pretty, shiny parts of it wanted to use the time and money that it would take to make her neighborhood shine, too. It seemed like no one who could change it cared enough to make it happen, or perhaps they didn’t even know that it was so downtrodden, because they were so wrapped up in their own bright worlds.
Her steering wheel squealed as she turned another corner and rambled down the road past empty buildings with broken windows which stared out into the night like soulless shells, spray painted signs and walls, cars with no tires up on blocks, buildings with sagging roofs, peeling paint, and missing shingles.
If the blues music that played in the clubs could be formed into tangible things, it would become everything that she rolled on past, good days gone, and long lonely nights coming one after another after another, like dominoes. It was the same sad story block after block; but it all boiled down to the same thing. Not enough.
Celeste finally came to the parking lot of her own apartment buildings and was relieved to see that she could get a good spot. She knew it was, because there were people who worked the midnight shift in her complex. Hers was no nine to five world; hers was the world of the masses who make up the small spaces in society that are really the foundation which holds the whole thing up.
Hers was the world of those who clean and cook and build and repair and deliver and stock and restock and tend to necessity for those who did work and live in nine to five worlds. There were always open parking spaces where she lived, no matter the time, because people who lived there were out doing what needed to be done for everyone else.
She got out of her car and locked it, knowing that in her neighborhood no one would want to steal it, but if they had a mind to, a lock certainly wasn’t going to stop them. Tired and happy, she walked to her apartment and only stopped for a moment when she saw that Darnell was still out in his chair, his bottle in his hand. He looked as if he was passed out; having had too much to drink again.
The night air was thick with cool humidity and moisture was beginning to form on the grass and on the leaves of the bushes and trees. It was condensing at the corners of windows where the air inside was warmer than the air outside. She stopped near him and frowned, sighing as she crossed her arms over her chest.
She knew she had to do something, she couldn’t leave him laying out in his chair all night, passed out drunk. She rolled her eyes, wishing she could leave him outside, because he more than deserved it, but she wasn’t vindictive and she couldn’t just let him suffer the way he would, or worse, if she didn’t do something.
Sighing loudly, she went to him and leaned over where he was laid back in his ratty old chair. She set her hands carefully on his shoulders, giving him a few rough shakes. “Darnell! Wake up! Get up!”
He didn’t stir at first, his mouth just lolled open and noxious scents rose from him as he exhaled long. She nearly vomited. Turning her head, Celeste called his name louder. “Darnell!” She shook him again and nothing happened.
Looking up at the apartment above hers, she saw the light on and heard the noise of her rambunctious neighbors partying hard late into the night. Music pumped and voices called out, laughing and talking, cussing and hollering. She wondered if she should go and get someone from the party to help her. There was no way that she could get Darnell into his own apartment on her own, she was a very small woman, and though he wasn’t big either and half wasted away drinking himself to death, in his drunken state he would still be dead weight to her.
She was gazing up at the apartment above her still, trying to decide if she should go ask someone to help her, when she felt two hands on her hips, pulling her down. Gasping in shock, she looked down and saw that Darnell had woken up and was staring bleary-eyed at her.
“There she is…” he mumbled with a widening smile. “Come here baby… I’ll… I’ll give it to you good.” His fingers fumbled over the curves of her hips as he tried to pull her down onto his lap.
She shoved herself away from him and he wavered dizzily and clawed at the air in front of her. “Get your hands off of me Darnell!”
“Where’d you go?” he asked, his eyes narrowed and he tried to refocus them as he looked up slowly at her. “Awe… there you are. Where you goin’? Come here…” He grabbed for her again.
“Darnell, I am not going to put up with your harassment tonight, so you can just stop right now! I’m trying to help you up out of that nasty old chair of yours so you can get home and get inside! It’s cold out here! Now get up and get inside!” She shot him a dark look.
He laughed softly. “I’ll warm you up baby, come here.” He tried to reach for her again, but couldn’t get anywhere sitting in his chair.
She glanced back up at the party and again considered asking for help. With a frustrated sigh she held her hand out to him. “I’m not going to do anything with you Darnell, but you’re going to freeze to death if you stay out here, now get up out of that chair and get inside!”
Mumbling, he groaned and reached his hand up, taking hers. She had to work hard to stay on her feet as he wobbled his way to a standing position, muttering incoherently under his breath. When he was standing, she held on to his arm and walked with him to the steps that led down to their side by side apartment doors. He stumbled and nearly made them both fall as they made their way down one step at a time.
She finally got him to his door and was grateful when it pushed open easily. She suspected that he must rarely if ever, lock it. “There you go. Now go in and stay there,” she ordered.
He turned slightly to look at her and reached his arms around her, pulling her to him. His breath was rank and vile and he tried to close his mouth over hers, but she turned her head and pushed him away. “Get off of me!”
With a loose and fumbling attempt, he brushed his hand over her breast as he swayed in place and she backed away from him. “Inside! Now!” she demanded. His shoulders slouched and he scowled, turning away from her and muttering even more. He stumbled into his home and slammed the door shut behind him.
The stench of him lingered in the air of the stairwell, and she held her breath until she was into her apartment and had gotten the door closed behind her, and locked. It wasn’t until then that she breathed in and exhaled long and slow.
She was only annoyed a moment before a big smile came back to her face, along with the savory memories of what had transpired between her and Kevin that night. It had been so good; every moment of it, and she played it over and over again in her mind. She was definitely going to see him again. She had wanted him just as much as he had wanted her, and more of him sounded just fine to her.
The music upstairs was still thumping loud and strong, and she could hear every footstep as if it was a herd of elephants going wild all over the living room and kitchen. The floor plan above her was the same as hers was, and when she went to her bedroom, she stopped and looked up at the ceiling.
There were shouts and moans of a couple having sex, the bed banging against the wall, and she groaned and began changing into her pajamas, hoping that whoever it was above her having their own passionate night might be done with it quickly. It wasn’t over quickly. It went on and on and finally she glared up at the ceiling and called out loudly, “Hey! The walls are thin, ail!”
There was no response. She doubted that they could hear her above the noise of the party in the living room and kitchen. Celeste walked out of her room and closed the door, heading into the kitchen. She made herself a sandwich and got a glass of water, and then went to her small desk in the corner of her living room near the front door.
Flipping on the mini lamp on the desk, she sat down on the hard metal folding chair and turned her computer on. She took a bite of her sandwich and then reached for a textbook and a notebook out of her backpack, opening them both to the pages she needed. With a tired sigh, she began to read the assignment for one of her business classes, and a few minutes later, her fingers were moving over the keyboard, tapping at the keys as she worked on her homework.
She worked late into the night, pushing thoughts of Kevin from her mind every time they surfaced, and doing her best to work on her studies.
By two in the morning she felt completely drained, and her mind seemed as if it just wouldn’t cooperate with her. Doing her best to stifle another yawn, she folded the monitor of her laptop down and stood up, stretching her back. With an irritated roll of her eyes, she looked upward toward the ceiling.
The party was still going strong. She didn’t know how people could be up so loud and so late doing nothing more than drinking and being wild. She thought about yelling at them again or going to their door, but it wouldn’t do any good. She had been through it with them already several times before; there would be no change in their volume or thoughtless loudness.
She knew she would be wasting her time calling the police. The cops only came to her neighborhood for things like gunshots and murders, not for nonsense like loud parties or domestic abuse, drunk neighbors or vandalism. She was at the mercy of her neighbors, and they were merciless.
Celeste pushed earplugs into her ears and slid between her sheets, letting the exhaustion she felt take over and draw her into a deep sleep. She barely heard the alarm as it rang loudly and insistently beside her bed at six in the morning.
Struggling to open her eyes, she sat up and rubbed her hands over her face, trying to push away her exhaustion. Taking the earplugs out, she got up and showered and dressed, readying herself for the long day ahead.
She drained one cup of coffee at her apartment and took a second one with her as she drove her old car to the grocery store where she worked, wishing in the back of her mind that she could just take the coffee intravenously and save herself the hassle of dealing with a cup.
Her feet felt like they were held down by concrete weights as she trudged into the grocery store and headed for the staff room to clock in. She ran her time card through the clock and a loud chunking noise sounded as the date and time were stamped onto it. She was just sliding the card back into her slot in the metal file on the wall when her boss walked into the room and stopped in the doorway, holding the door open. His rotund gut hung over his belt, obscuring it from view completely.
“You’re here. Good. I need you to work a double today, back to back.” He watched her with pale watery eyes which were slightly enlarged by the thick glasses he wore, and his bushy red-brown moustache stayed still over his closed mouth.
Celeste stared at him and her mouth fell open slightly. “What? But I can’t… I can’t stay for two shifts! I have classes tonight at school! I have a test that I have to go take!” She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at him seriously.
He didn’t move or even flinch. “Listen, Celeste, I need you here. Skip school, make up the test another time.”
She shook her head. “I’m not skipping school! I can’t make the test up another time. I have to take it tonight, and there are no makeups!”
He shrugged one shoulder, but his face was impassive. “I’ll make this easy for you. You can work your shift and then leave to go to school and take your test and then tomorrow you can take the day to find yourself another job, or you can stay here today and work the double shift, and take your test some other time and keep your job. Your choice. Let me know right now though, so if you decide this test is more important than your paycheck, I can find someone else to work the second shift.”
His overly large eyes stared unblinking at her through his thick glasses and he clamped his mouth shut and waited.
Her stomach twisted into a knot and her throat tightened. She had no idea what she was going to do about the test, but she knew she couldn’t afford to lose her job. “I’ll stay here for the double,” she answered quietly, wishing that her stare could penetrate his mind so that he could see what a truly awful choice he was forcing her to make. She thought that it probably still wouldn’t make a difference to him at all, he would still be a jerk and make her work two shifts when she should be at school instead.
“That’s a wise choice, Celeste. Hey, look on the bright side, maybe going to that school of yours really is making you smarter.” He smirked coolly and turned, walking away from the doorway. The door closed behind him with a sharp slam.
She sighed and her shoulders dropped. With a shake of her head, Celeste reached for her cell phone and looked up her instructor’s phone number. Biting at her lower lip, she held the phone to her ear and listened as it rang.
The rings continued until the voice messaging system answered, and she took a deep breath and left a detailed message about how she had no choice but to work a double and miss the class, but that she would come in anytime afterward to make up the test, and she apologized to the professor three times before she hung up the phone and ended the call.
Sliding the cell phone back into her pocket, she blinked back hot tears, not quite catching all of them, needing to bring her hand to her face and wipe a couple of them off of her cheek. With a tired sigh, she straightened her shoulders and headed for the door of the break room to go start her double shift.