Chapter 9
"Hi!" Stephan stepped into the room and saw her sitting with his mother on one of the sofas. "You are here. I have been calling your phone." He moved over to kiss his mother on the cheek before turning to the woman he had been thinking about since he had been gone for the past three days.
"I had my phone turned off and I decided to come and spend some time with your mother. I hope you don’t mind," she said as she looked up at him. "How was your trip?"
Stephan glanced at his mother and wondered what she had been told. It seemed strange that she was asking him questions like that! "It was okay." He pulled up a chair next to his mother’s. "How are you, Mother?"
"I am very good, darling." She looked from her son to the young woman seated next to her. "Why don’t you go and speak to Sasha in private? I think it is about time for my medications now."
"It’s okay, I have to leave now anyway. It’s getting late." Sasha squeezed the woman’s frail hand and got to her feet. "I will be seeing you sometime soon, Elizabeth."
"Any time, my dear."
They both watched as she left the room.
"Aren’t you going to go after her?" his mother asked him.
"We are not-" he floundered, not knowing what to say.
"You are not what? In a relationship?" his mother scoffed gently. "I saw the look on your face when you came into the room and saw her sitting here, Stephan. You feel something for that girl and you had better go catch her before she leaves."
He got to his feet and kissed her cheek before hurrying out. He caught her at the front door.
"Hey."
She did not turn around but went through the open doorway with the maid holding the doors open for her and went out into the cold blast of air. He caught her as reached out to the curb. "Sasha, please."
She turned to him. "What do you want, Stephan?" she asked him rudely.
"Why does everything have to be so hard where you are concerned?" he asked her.
"What do you want?"
"You. I want you. Please, come back inside."
"You want to have sex with me. Are we on for tonight?"
"Stop," he ordered her. "Look, I am sorry I did not call-"
"Why would you call?" she asked him in surprise. "It’s not like we are in a relationship, are we?"
"Will you at least come inside? I am freezing out here."
"I am going home."
Without responding, he took her arm and propelled her back inside. She pulled away from him as soon as they got into the foyer and refused to have her coat taken by the hovering maid.
"That will be all," he told the woman.
"I am listening." She folded her arms beneath her breasts and stared at him.
"Not here."
"I am not going up to your suite, Stephan, so forget that."
Stephan took a deep breath before he responded. Surely, she did not mean as much to him for him to be taking all this from her! He was not used to this kind of treatment from a woman but damned if he did not need her! "I am asking you to come up to my suite so that we can talk. I just want to be with you and I am begging you."
"Why?"
He closed his eyes briefly and willed himself to be patient. "I have been thinking about you for the past three days and when I came and saw you here, I was so happy to see you and I did not expect that."
She stared at him for a moment and then shrugged. "Good enough." She turned and went towards the stairs. She was starting up when she realized that he was not behind her. "Aren’t you coming?"
"Is it okay for me to do so?" he asked her mockingly.
"Of course it is. This is your place."
He shook his head and followed her up. "You are the most infuriating woman I have ever come across," he muttered.
"Thank you," she said sweetly.
"It was not a compliment," he told her darkly.
"I know," she told him with a grin.
*****
"Stay the night," he murmured as she made to get up. "It’s late and you are exhausted."
"Is that your way of telling me that you wore me out?" She pushed at him, but he would not budge. They had come up to his suite of rooms and had barely made it to his bedroom before he started taking off her clothes. She had not seen him for three days and she was craving him. He had made love to her two times already and now they were both spent. This was becoming ridiculous!
"We wore each other out," je murmured as he propped up his head on his hand and looked down at her. "Stay."
"I have to get to work tomorrow."
"So do I. But I will drop you off at your place in the morning."
"So in other words I am going to have the staff looking at me with knowing eyes while I sneak out in the morning. Is that it?" She had stopped trying to leave. She badly wanted to stay.
"It’s not sneaking." He bent his head and touched her lips lightly. She brought her hands up and wrapped them around his neck.
"What are we doing here, Stephan?" she asked him softly.
"I don’t know," he told her honestly. "All I know for sure is that I want to be with you."
"And the woman you were seeing?"
"I am not seeing anyone except you." He shifted so that he was on top of her, his penis rubbing against her thigh.
"How soon will it be before you get tired of me?" she whispered.
"Who says I will?’ he whispered back.
"Your reputation and who I am." She arched her body against his.
"Shh." He reached between them and guided his penis inside her. "No more talking."
*******
Sasha spread the blanket over her feet and held the cup of hot chocolate between her hands to keep them warm. She had told Stephan that she needed to be at her apartment tonight and he had told her that he would be working late at the office so he would not be able to see her tonight after all. It was a Friday night and she had wondered idly about going to the club or just going out somewhere to let of some steam. Tomorrow was Saturday and the last one before the Christmas holidays which meant that she was going to have to go to the soup kitchen to help out and she did not mind in the least bit. Chloe was still at the hospital after getting treatment and having the cancer cells removed from her breasts. She would be there for the next week or so. Her phone rang just then and she reached over to answer it.
"Hey, girl, I was wondering if I should call you or not. I have not seen you in a week, Diana. What’s up?"
"I have not called or come to see you because I did not want the judgment."
Sasha paused and put her cup down. "You are back with Brian."
Diana sighed. "Look, I know you are disappointed in me, but I love him and he came over and begged me to take him back."
"I am not one the one to judge you, Di," Sasha admitted. "I have been having sex with Stephan. I even spent several nights with him."
"Oh my Lord, girl!" Diana exclaimed. "So things have progressed."
"I have no idea what that means. We have sex with each other and it is hot and totally intense, but that’s just it. We don’t do anything else because it is not a relationship. We have this intense passion between us that we cannot ignore and that’s it. We do not talk, well, not really. We argue and disagree on everything, and I happen to like his mother and I think she likes me."
"You met his mother?"
"Don’t read anything into that, girl," Sasha warned her. "He is this handsome, totally hot guy with a bank account I can only imagine. I am a working class woman and I am not ashamed of that, but I am also black and I wear size twenty clothes. He is used to beautiful, thin women and I am not one of them."
"So you do want something more."
Sasha did not respond as she processed that. "I don’t know," she said slowly. "I cannot have more than that. It’s not possible."
"What if it was?" Diana asked her. "Would you?"
"It’s not possible," Sasha insisted. "He is Stephan Coleman. He is out of my league."
"And yet he is with you."
"Because of the sex."
"Is it?"
"Diana, stop!" she said with a breathless laugh. "It cannot be anything else. Even if I want more. And I am not saying that I do because I am practical woman who knows that there could never be anything more between us."
******
"I am sorry I have not called, Claudia, things have been pretty crazy around here." He felt the need to apologize. He had not called her because he knew that after being with Sasha he could not be with her anymore, but that was not his style and he was always honest to a fault. And apart from him having sex with her, she was also a very good friend.
"I understand. I saw the ad campaign and am very impressed." She paused. "I know I am not supposed to ask this, Stephan, but when can I see you?"
He closed his eyes briefly at that. It was late but he had been away for three days and had some work to catch up on, work that he was resenting right now because he wanted to be with Sasha. Damn! What the hell was going on with him? "I should have called and told you that I am seeing someone."
He waited out the silence on her part and waited for her to speak. "I see."
"I am sorry, Claudia. I know it was just physical between us, but I owe you the decency of letting you know."
"It was not just physical for me. It was more than that for me, Stephan, and I think you already knew that."
"We said nothing more than that, Claudia," he reminded her.
"And I broke the rules. I wanted more and I was hoping that there would be more. Is she only physical as well?"
Stephan hesitated before responding partly because he did not know what he felt for Sasha! "It’s intense, that much I know, but I cannot identify what I feel for her."
"I still want to see you," she said softly.
"I don’t think that’s wise," he told her.
"Because I have feelings for you."
"I am sorry, Claudia, truly I am."
"You did not offer anything more than what you said in the first place. I hope we can still be friends."
"I hope so too. Goodbye, Claudia." He hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. He glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw to his surprise that it was almost ten. He had called and checked up on his mother and she had told him she was going to bed. Tomorrow was Saturday and before he went to the club he was planning on spending quality time with her. He reached for the phone and dialed her number. "Are you still working?"
He smiled as he heard her voice. "I am still at the office and as for working I don’t think so because I have been thinking about you. What are you doing?"
"Trying to watch something on television. I saw the ad four times in the last hour. You really went all out with it, didn’t you?"
"It’s one of the best we ever had. Thanks to you."
"I deserve a hefty bonus."
"You do." He hesitated. "How about spending Christmas with my mother and me?’
"You are going to make me think that it is more than just sex between us," she said lightly.
"Isn’t it?"
"What exactly it is between us, Stephan?"
"I am trying to figure it out myself. I am incredibly attracted to you for one. Right now, I am here talking to you and I am getting hard and I know that tonight I will have a hell of a time falling asleep. And although you get on my nerves with the constant arguments I love to be around you. You challenge me, Sasha, and I like that."
"And all of that adds up to what?"
"I don’t know," he said with a sigh. "I want to find out. Will you spend the holidays with me?"
"You are going to have parties to attend and we are not at the point where we are seen with each other yet," she pointed out.
"What if we are?"
"What are you saying?"
"I want you with me, Sasha."
"I am not ready and neither are you. The minute we are seen together, it will be all over the papers and the press will make my life a living hell. I am not ready for that."
"Still spend the holidays with me."
"Okay, but you get to go out to your parties which I know that at this time of the year it will be a lot and I will stay and spend time with your mother."
"I like the fact that I get to come home to you," he said softly.
*****
Sasha woke up the next morning with zeal of determination and walked straight to the drawer where she kept her exercise outfits. She pulled out black sweatpants and an old t-shirt that had seen better days. She pulled them on and bundled her hair on the top of her head. She was determined to see if she could get rid of some weight before she headed to the soup kitchen. She had spent the night going over in her mind the conversation that she had had with Stephan. He wanted more! He had said so himself although in not so many words, but he wanted more and so did she! She stopped as she eased the sweatband around her head. She wanted more. She had told Diana that more with a man like Stephan was not possible! But what if it was? What if she lost the weight and he came to love her and they end up loving each other? What if it was all possible? She sat on the side of the bed and thought for a moment. What was she thinking? A man like Stephan could never marry her! Yes, the sex was intense and when they were together she felt alive like she had never felt before, but nothing permanent could ever be between them.
She got off the bed with a rueful laugh as she headed for the treadmill. "You are tripping, girl," she scoffed as she got on the machine and programmed it to the time and speed she wanted. "You are not going to turn into the thin, beautiful woman he is used to, so forget that!" She pushed the button and putting in her earphones, she started the workout.
******
"I wanted to make sure you were okay." Stephan handed her the dish with the butter. He had told the nurse to take the morning off as he was going to be spending the time with his mother. He had gotten up at ten and did his usual workout before taking a shower and coming down to be with her. He had also ordered that breakfast be sent around to her suite for two.
"I am okay and my appetite is not so bad since the other day." She smiled at him, admiring the rugged handsomeness of the beautiful man seated opposite to her at the small table. His jet black hair still glistened from the shower he had taken and he had rolled up the sleeves of the silver grey sweater he was wearing. He looked relaxed and anything but the man she was used to seeing on television or the man who was constantly on the move to get his work done. He seemed more like her son! "I thought I would be seeing Sasha today."
He looked over at her as he buttered his scone. "I am seeing her later," he said lightly. "She has something at the church she goes to where she helps to hand out food to the homeless."
"She is quite something, isn’t she?" his mother murmured.
"She is." He bit into the scone and chewed for a moment. "I have asked her to spend the holidays with us."
Elizabeth’s face widened into a big smile. "That’s wonderful! Has she said yes?"
"She did." He sipped his coffee and eyed his mother over the cup before placing it onto the saucer. "I really like her, Mother."
"I know."
He shrugged. "I more than like her. I have never felt this way before about anyone and I want to be with her constantly."
"So why the secrecy?" she asked him.
He played with the lid of the cup. "As soon as we go out together, there will be no turning back. She will be branded as my love interest and there will be no turning back for her. I am not sure I want to put her through that until-" He broke off.
"Until you are sure of what you feel," his mother said shrewdly. "In my estimation, you are already sure."
"But she is not and I want us to get to know each other more before we enter into something deeper."
"She is a delightful young woman."
"To you she is," he said with a wry smile. "To me, she is a big pain in the neck. She is opinionated and willful and does not give in without a fight."
"I would say you have met your match," she said in amusement.
"I have," he said with a laugh. "There is also something else. She is not comfortable with the way she is."
"You mean the fact that she is a big girl?"
He nodded.
"I happen to think that she is a beautiful young lady," his mother said firmly.
"So do I, but she does not think that and even though she tries to hide it I know she is not eating the way she should."
"Then she is going to need your support, darling."
******
"Here you go." Sasha handed the meal to the man as he shuffled over and almost grabbed it from her hurrying off to find somewhere to sit so that he could shove the food into his mouth. She watched him for a moment and then continued serving. She ignored the growling of her stomach which was reminding her that she had not eaten anything aside from the dry toast and the insipid tea for breakfast. It was now past noon and she was starving. She had no intention of eating anything they had here because it would go against her diet. She had a plain salad waiting for her at home and that would have to do. She looked over as Minister Brady came to join them in the serving line. "My dear, very good to see you. I have not had the chance to tell you thanks for what you did for our Sister Chloe."
"You are welcome." She handed the meal to the lady standing there before turning to him. "I have not had a chance to go and see her, but I understand that she is doing quite well."
"Her own private room and everything. Thanks to you."
"Actually, it is thanks to Stephan Coleman. He made it happen."
"You made it happen and I am praying God’s richest blessings on you. Your mother would have been so proud," he said sincerely.
Her eyes clouded at that and she had to blink away the tears. "Thank you, Pastor."
"I will leave you to it, my dear," he said as he walked away. For a minute, she could not focus as the memory of her gentle mother flashed into her head. She might have looked like her, but she had nothing of her mother’s gentle spirit and she knew that very well! She smiled at the teenager who came over to her and quickly handed her a plate. Coming here to the place where her mother frequented made her felt so sad that she had to force herself to continue what she was doing!