Starring:

Audre Highsmith

Featuring:

Christian Mueller

Gregory Mason

Jenelle Union

Cassandra Davis

She was fine, she really was, actually she was doing well. The sun was shining, it was a warm – but not hot – summer day in Chicago. She had just had her hair freshly relaxed over the weekend, so it had that extra shiny bounce to it. Her shoes were fabulous (red patent leather manolos), her dress, fabulous (Diane Von Furstenberg classic wrap dress). She had just gotten put in charge of representing one of the most cutting edge breakthrough artists in Chicago which meant huge fee coming her way. Yep, Audre Highsmith was having a good day. . .until approximately 3:45pm that afternoon.

“Ms. Highsmith, Lisa Reynolds is on line 1.” Audre smiled to herself, Lisa had been one of her best friends from college. She was Lisa’s maid of honor so she figured she must’ve been calling about wedding.

“Put her through please Dana.” When she heard the beep she picked up the phone still smiling. “Hey Miss Lady!”

“Hey Audre what’s going on girl?”

“Oh I’m great, just counting down the days until my girl gets married.”

“That’s right 4 days, 7 hours and 15 minutes until I am Mrs. Wesley Bradford the third!” They both screamed like schoolgirls. Audre felt proud that she had a hand in getting the two together, she had introduced them. Now 4 years later they were making things official.

“I can’t wait to get you down that aisle. You’re going to make such a beautiful bride.”

“I know I am aren’t I? You know, I still can’t believe I’m the first one out of us getting married, if you had asked me this time last year I would’ve thought for sure you and Greg would’ve had us beat.”

Audre’s smile tightened at the mention of Gregory Mason. Her mind wondered to thoughts of Greg while her friend rattled off details about her upcoming nuptials. He was Wesley’s best friend and best man at the wedding. He was also Audre’s ex, they had broken up 5 months ago, actually. . .fuck that, SHE had broken up with him. Audre had broken up with him because he was your typical commitment phobic male and after 7 years of dating Audre was tired of waiting for him to take the leap. During the months leading up to their breakup she was sure that they had turned a corner. Every time they had gone out she had chewed every piece of food 20 times (just in case there was a ring stuffed in), examined the bottom of every champagne glass before she drank, got her hopes up every time a violinist approached their table only to get them dashed when they went to couple next to them. So, finally she walked away. Hell, she deserved better even if Greg was the ideal black Ken to her black Barbie. There were other fish in the sea, and she paid no attention to those statistics that said black women were the least likely to get married and that the chances dropped as they advanced in education and age. Okay, so maybe she paid a little attention but she still had time, so what if all her white girlfriends had gotten married in the twenties and she was knocking on 30 (okay so maybe she was actually standing in the doorway of the 30s). She still looked good, she felt good. She wasn’t going to waste time thinking about her biological clock, or the fact that her ass was dropping a little more each day, or that she had just discovered a line on her face that didn’t go away after she stopped smiling.

“. . .So is that okay with you?” Lisa’s question bought her out of her foggy haze, she felt sheepish not wanting to admit she’d let her mind wonder.

“Sure sounds good.”

“Really? Because Wesley and I thought for sure you’d be pissed off about Greg bringing a date.” Audre’s eyes widened.

“Greg’s bringing a date?!”

“Didn’t you just hear a word I said? He’s been seeing this girl for 4 months-” What the fuck we‘ve only been broken up for five months! “-some chick named Cassandra Davis, he wanted to bring her to the wedding but I said no way at least not until I run it by you first.” Audre shut her eye’s tightly, silently counting backwards from ten.

“Audre? You still there?”

“I’m here. Lisa you know I love you girl for sticking up for me but you don’t have to worry. We’re all adults. We’ve all moved on and since I’m the one that broke up with him. It’s perfectly fine.”

“Great. Because the last thing we need is drama on my special day.”

“No drama, at least not from me!”

“Cool. What time are you getting into Atlanta?”

“My flight gets in Thursday night at 8:30, so I’ll just meet you in the morning for breakfast and our bridal spa day!”

“Sounds perfect! Okay well, I gotta go in for my final dress fitting, I’ll see you in two days.”

“Can’t wait to see you. Love ya.”

“Love ya too.” As they hung up the phone, Audre stared out of the window. Cassandra, where have I heard that name before?

She picked up her phone and dialed information.

“Yes can you connect me with Goldman Sachs Chicago please?” She drummed her fingers impatiently as the operated connected her.

“Good afternoon this is Goldman Sachs how may I direct your call?”

“Yes, um I’m just wondering I worked with someone on my account a few months ago, her name is Cassandra Davis is she still working there?”

“One moment please. . .yes we have Cassandra Davis in our legal division, would you like me to connect you to her.”

“No, that’s okay thank you.” Audre quickly hung up the phone.

Son of a bitch.

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She’d stay cool when she had to get through rehearsal dinner and walk down the aisle with Greg the jackass. Audre had cordially asked him how he was doing, keeping their interaction minimal but exceedingly polite. She even managed to pretend that it was perfectly fine that she was dressed in a purple chiffon burlap sack (her hair was on point though) while Cassandra was dressed in a gorgeous Armani red dress. What kind of harlot wears red to a wedding anyway. All she had to do was get through the cutting of the cake and she was home free. Then of course, the jackass had to give his best man speech. When she heard him clear his throat, Audre resisted the urge to roll her eyes and turned her attention to him, her “I’m happy really I am” grin on her face.

“Excuse me. Ladies, gentlemen. I’d like to make a toast, to my best friend and his lovely bride. It was a wise person that once said the real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or the church. It’s a choice you make, not just on your wedding day but everyday, over and over. Over and over I have seen this man make that commitment to his new bride every day in every way and it’s a beautiful thing to see, it is an inspiring thing to see. I wish you both peace and happiness and may God bless your union.“

Audre raised her glass in toast, hoping that the worst was over. But the jackass continued on.

“You know, I never thought I would find kind of love that these two share. The kind of powerful, pure, perfect union that makes you thankful for every day you get to spend with that person. But I found it, in Cassie. And standing here with all my friends, I know the time is right to profess my love to the woman that I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with.” Greg stepped around the table and walked over the Cassandra, dropping to one knee and pulling out that fucking Tiffany’s box that was supposed to belong to Audre. There were gasps as everyone looked at the couple, Audre felt a few eyes turn to her, but she refused to acknowledge them staring at the happy couple in an exercise in slow torture. Cassandra was crying, she has an ugly cry face.

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes, yes, yes I’ll marry you!” Lisa turned to Audre with a apologetic look on her face as surprised and awkward applause filled the reception. Audre just stood there in shock staring, the “I’m fine really I am” grin still pasted on her face. She refused to let any of them see her cry (even though she would’ve looked better than Cassandra). She waited until everything died down before quietly slipping away to her hotel room. Not before stealing an entire bottle of champagne from the back.

“Fuck him girl, hit me.” Audre hit the punch mitt her friend and gym partner Jenelle was holding up. They were in a boxing class at their fitness club, they met there three times a week to take the class, it was the only way they could ensure they both would bother to show up. “Come on girl I know you can hit me harder than that.”

“I’m not feeling it J.”

“Audre, you better hit this damn mitt.”

“Come on ladies, push the tempo, push the tempo.” The instructor walked by trying to encourage her, but Audre couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand.

“Audre, look at me. This is Greg’s head right here, tell him what you want to say and then take his head off.” Audre, hit a little harder.

“You suck Greg.” She hit harder.

“Okay that was weak! You can do better than that. This man just proposed to some other woman after seven years of bullshit. Stand up for yourself Audre! What do you want to say to me, I‘m Greg what do you want to tell me?”

“I want to say. . .How could you start dating someone a month after we broke up! I mean supposedly it takes like three months for every year, right?” She hit the glove harder. “So your ass should be mourning me for like almost two years.” She hit it even harder, as Jenelle back away. “But it’s only been a month and your already with that bitch.” She slammed her glove into the mitt. “That gorgeous, intelligent perfect bitch with mile long legs.

And then you brought her to the wedding. You knew I was going to be there and you just completely disregards my feelings. And you doesn’t even have the balls to call me yourself.” Audre kept hitting out, tears blurring her vision. “And then you purposes to her! I was with you Greg for seven gotdamn years you’re with her for five minutes and now all the sudden you’re ready to settle down. Now you’ve found true fucking love. Yeah right, the only true love you’ve ever found is with your own bitch ass. Why didn’t you want me, what the fuck is wrong with me. Fuck you Greg, Fuck you Fuck you!” Audre hit the glove so far it sent Jenelle falling backwards to the floor. She broke out her trance, everyone was staring out her like she had just escaped from the local loony bin.

“I’m sorry.” She bent over to help Jenelle to her feet. The instructor looked at her for a moment. Then shrugged an walked away.

“Okay, switch partners.” Jenelle smiled as they switched.

“Good girl. Okay my turn. Can you pretend to be my boss?”

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Audre laid on the couch of her condo, a pint of Haggen Daz Carmel Waffle Cone ice cream in her hands. She knew every bite erased all of her efforts in boxing class but she didn’t really give a fuck it was either the ice cream or the tequila and since she had to go to work tomorrow, the tequila was not an option. She flipped through the television channels looking for something to make her feel better. After watching a mini marathon of Snapped, she decided it was in her best interest to find a show not about women killing their spouses.

Audre stared down at the list on her pad. It wasn’t exactly the revenge she was looking for (she was thinking stuff more along the lines of subscribing to weird sex magazines in your ex’s name and have them sent to his house) still she guessed it made sense. Maybe it was time to start doing some external and internal house cleaning after all.

"That trifling ass motherfucker!  Were it not for the fact that I was wearing a $15,000 dress, $700 shoes and didn't want to sweat out my perm before we were done taking pictures, I would have broken my foot smooth off in his ass."

"Lisa, it's alright, I'm glad you didn't show out at your wedding you know that just would have been fodder for the town gossips.  Besides, why are we even still talking about this, you should be enjoying your honeymoon with that gorgeous new husband of yours."

"I know.  But damn it if he didn't piss me straight off.  I mean what kind of insensitive son of a bitch proposes to his new girlfriend of front of his ex?  And then the asshole stole my thunder, it was my fucking day it wasn't about him and his lazy eyed tramp, and what kind of harlot wears red to a wedding?"  Audre snorted.

She was in her car on the way to an early morning yoga class, she had never done yoga before but it combined step one and step two on her list so she figured if she could keep her ass in shape and get spiritually enlightened at the same time all the better.  Lisa had called her from Fiji at 5:30 in the morning still bristling about the events of last weekend.

"Yeah well, it didn't exactly show a high level of class."

"No it didn't that shit was tacky as hell.  I told Wes he can't bring that mofo around me for a while because it's obvious he's got me twisted."

"Well I'm sorry you had to go through that at your wedding."

"I knew I shouldn't have let them come, I should have told him to leave the bitch at the hotel as soon as I found out they had been living together for the last three months. . .uh shit."  Audre jerked the steering wheel of the car, causing several cars behind her to honk loudly as she pulled over on the shoulder Lakeshore Drive.

"I'm sorry what did you say?"  Silence met her on the other end of the phone.  Lisa hadn't meant to let that little bit of information slip.  It had come out during dinner.  Lisa and Wesley and gone out with Greg and Cassandra when they had first gotten into town for the wedding.  Wesley knew and Greg and Cassandra assumed Lisa did as well, she didn’t.  It didn’t make for an easy night between Wesley and Lisa, but Wesley had pointed out that it just would’ve caused a lot of pain and drama and reluctantly Lisa had agreed.  She swore that she wouldn't tell Audre but she had been on such a roll it had just popped out before she could stop it, now she was kicking herself for not just keeping her mouth shut.

"Lisa?"

"I'm sorry Audre, I found out a couple of nights before the wedding."

"Well you know what, we weren't together so it doesn't matter.  Listen I'm um at the gym and I'm going to be late for my yoga class so, enjoy your honeymoon and I'll talk to you when you get back okay sweetie."

"Audre. . ."

"Lisa, I broke up with him you know, not the other way around.  I'm fine, I'll talk to you soon okay, I love you."

"I love you Audre and you know what you are so much better off without that asshole, that dumb bitch is going to find that out the hard way."

"Yeah, okay bye."  Audre hung up the phone quickly and sat in her car stunned, still on the side of the highway.

 Approximately a year ago 

"Hey you," 

"Hey yourself."  Greg came up behind Audre gripping her hips tightly and pulling her back into him as he kissed her neck.  She was standing over the stove making breakfast.  It was a relaxing Sunday morning at Greg's apartment, a rare occurrence.  He had been working like crazy and they had barely been able to spend a day together.  Greg had always been a workaholic but as of the last few months he had been buried in his work, late nights, weekends he was always busy. 

"Have I told you how good you look in my favorite shirt?"  He said, his eyes roving over her slender frame covered in his giant grey Morehouse tee shirt. "

Maybe a couple of times,"  She replied laughing as his hands, moved leisurely up her thighs, stroking her skin gently as he did a slow grind, playful grind against her ass.  "Baby stop, you don't want me to burn breakfast." 

"Are you sure you want me to stop?"  He whispered in her ear. 

"No. . .are you sure you want burnt pancakes?" 

"No."  He reluctantly pulled away from her and went to fix a cup of coffee for himself.  He sat down at the dining room table, opening up the Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune and pulling out the sports section.  Audre began taking dishes to the table, setting out the spread she had prepared.  Pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, bacon, eggs scrambled with cheese and green onions, and freshly squeezed orange juice. 

"Baby this looks fantastic!"  Greg said as he started digging in greedily. 

"Well you know, it's been so long since we've had a day like this." 

"Now baby you know I've been busy at work, there's that large account I've been working on." 

"I know, I'm so proud of you moving up the ladder like you are.  You know actually I had lunch with my boss last week and I really think-"  Greg's cell phone started buzzing.  He picked it up, and immediately went into the other room to talk for a few minutes.  He came back and sat down and picked up his fork taking a spoonful of eggs into his mouth. 

"This is cold."  She immediately picked up his plate and went to prepare him fresh scrambled eggs. 

"So who was on the phone?" 

"Just one of my partners from work you remember Roy?" 

"Oh yeah what's he doing calling on a Sunday?" 

"He was just going over some numbers and he asked for my input." 

"Oh."  They were quiet for the next few minutes as she prepared his eggs and he read the paper.  She sat his plate in front of him and resumed eating her now cold food. 

"You know honey, it's nice spending this time with you, just the two us having breakfast, reading the paper." 

"Yeah it's wonderful babe." 

"You know it could be like this all the time."  He stopped eating and put down his fork.  He leaned over, stroking Audre's cheek; he knew where she was going.  For months she had been dropping hints about the two of them moving in together.   

"Audre, baby you know how crazy things are at work for me right now.  I'm keeping strange hours, showering at the office because I can't get home, or getting in at 3am.  I don't want to impose on you with my insane lifestyle.  You know things will be better in a few years, the time will be right then."  He kissed her on the cheek before returning to his food. 

"Yeah you're right, besides mama would probably have a fit if she knew I was shacking up anyway, hell I think she still thinks I'm a virgin. . .at least I hope she does."  He smiled at her. 

"Speaking of which, have you still be going to the fitness club?  It looks like your hips have been spreading a bit." 

"Yes I’m still going.  And I thought you said I looked good?" 

"You do.  I was just making an observation, that's all." 

"Oh."  Audre put back her second pancake and picked at her half eaten cold eggs before throwing them away. 

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Audre was in her yoga class, still trying to get past the fact that Greg had moved in with Cassandra so quickly after they had broken up.  She tried to stay focused on the instructor in front of her, hoping a bit of spiritual meditation could do the trick.

"Okay everyone.  Step to the front of the mat, put your hands in prayer position. . .your mind is emptying of clutter. . .remember openness comes from within. . .continue to meditate, welcoming your mental practice, cleansing your spirit. . .slow deep breathes. . .Okay I want you set an intention for your practice today, think about something you'd like to see manifest. . ."

 Revenge Fantasy #2 

"Hey baby." 

"Hey yourself."  Greg leaned over to kiss Cassandra as he sat down at the dinner table.  She grinned satisfied with herself as she sat down a plate of something burned beyond recognition that smelled of jalapeño and feet. 

"This is. . .um. . .great honey, I see you were going for. . .Cajun style looks like."  Greg said as he looked at the runny "food" on his plate. 

After choking down as much of the meal as he could he left for work, his stomach heavy with indigestion.  He could barely think straight as he went in to work, hunched over as his stomach cramped up.  When he got on the elevator he straightened himself out, fixing his tie and suit, last thing he wanted was to look like a punk in front of his co-workers.  As he got off of the elevator he noticed several eyes swing his way and then quickly look away, he smiled, he looked damn good and he knew it. He thought he saw a secretary pointing and laughing at him but perhaps it was his imagination.  Two women who work on the third floor stared at him as they passed by and he heard them snickering as he turned the corner.  He frowned, looking down at his suit, there were no stains or holes, and his fly wasn't open.  He passed by the mail guy who avoided eye contact as he walked by.  Greg was really confused as he went into the kitchen to fix his regular cup of coffee he noticed that the conversations that had been buzzing as he walked up to the door had completely stopped. 

"What's going on everyone?"  There were bursts of laughter and awkward looks as people filed out around him.  Roy his co-worker slapped him on the back and gave him a sympathetic look as he moved by him.  Greg shook his head and fixed his coffee, taking it back to his office and shutting the door. 

He sat in his chair and swung around to look out of his large glass window over looking the city.  His eyes widened in shock as his coffee cup dropped from his fingers.  Right in the middle of downtown Chicago was a large billboard for everyone to see.  He knew everyone from the office would be able to see it from the east facing windows.  A small crowd had gathered around the billboard outside and were laughing hysterically and pointing up at it. 

"Dear Gregory Mason, 

Do I finally have your attention?  I regret every moment I ever spent kissing the ass of a selfish, pathetic, insensitive, ungrateful, lousy lay douche bag like you.  Enjoy your leaky eyed new fiancée because you will never get the pleasure of seeing my beautiful ass again!                                                      

Sincerely, Audre" 

The bile rose up in his throat, the nasty morning breakfast lurching around.  He stared out of the window at the billboard incredulously. 

That fucking bitch. 

Audre smirked to herself as she pulled herself up into the three legged dog position.  Spiritual cleansing indeed.

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Audre sat in her office at work, sketching on her writing pad, immersed in her private thoughts.

"Highsmith!"  Audre jumped, the deep, authoritative voice pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Yes sir Mr. Billington sir?"  Audre looked up at her boss, Edward Billingon, senior partner of Billington, Cohen and Associates a mid sized law firm that specializes in art law.

"How's it going with the Dawson account?"

"Everything's good sir, we're just hammering out the final details of the contract for the auctioning off of Dawson's paintings.  I expect everything to go as planned."

"Excellent work Highsmith.  Listen there's a breakthrough artists exhibit this Friday in Wicker Park, I've heard there are some cutting edge artists that will be there, go check it out see if there are any potential clients for us to pick up."

"No problem I'm all over it sir."

"Okay, I'll be expecting a full report on Monday."

"Will do."

When her boss left the office Audre picked up the phone and called Jenelle who worked on a different floor in accounting.

"Hey girl."

"Hey girl what sup?"

"What are you doing Thursday night?"

"Besides writing the next great American novel?  Not a damn thing.  Why?"

"There's a breakthrough artist showcase that my boss wants me to check out, you know what that means free food, free drinks. . ."

"And some asshole that puts a tampon in a teacup and calls it art?"  Audre let out a sigh.

"Yeah might be some of that too, but if we start drinking early maybe by the time we see the tampon in a teacup it might actually look like art."

"I don't know girl, those things are just kind of weird.  I don't need a free drink that bad."

"Jenelle just come with me for moral support, we'll check it out for 20 minutes and then go somewhere else."

"Alright fine, but if I see anyone throwing some questionable substance against the wall I am so out of there."

"Trust me I'll be right behind you."

"Good, we still on for lunch?"

"Yep, meet you downstairs at noon?"

Christian sat in his chair at the Old Town Tattoo parlor, polishing off a tattoo on some giggling college girl, if he had to do one more butterfly on the lower back today he was going to lose it.

"Okay, you're all done."  He said pushing back from the chair so she could get up.

"You're done already?  I barely felt a thing, you have very gentle hands."  The perky blonde said tossing her hair back flirtatiously.  Christian just rolled his eyes as he peeled off his gloves, five minutes ago she had been practically screaming in pain.  Besides he wasn’t interested, he knew her type.  Used to skating by on her looks, having everything handed to her and guys acting like dumbasses around her.  Probably got her tattoo as some small form of rebellion against daddy, too bad the choice in tattoo was cliché as fuck.  Plus he knew within a 10 minute span of meaningless conversation that she was someone he didn't care to spend any more than a limited amount of time with.  He smiled politely at her as she examined herself in the mirror.

"Oh my god Christian this is so awesome, I absolutely love it!"  She said beaming proudly.  This time he gave her a genuine smile.  Even though he didn't necessarily relish pounding out unimaginative tattoos all day, there was some satisfaction derived in seeing someone someone's face looking at their new tattoo. Even the worst tattoos were intensely personal snapshots of a moment in time permanently inked on someone's body, so to know that they love it and he had a part in that felt good.  He bandaged up the area as he explained the after care then led her up to the front

"All right Casey, Juno'll take you care of you."  He said nodding at the guy behind the cash register.

"Okay so maybe. . .I'll see you around?"  The girl was asking hopefully but Christian was already distracted as his eyes landed one on one of the most spectacular asses he had seen in a while.  She was wearing a fitted black pencil skirt and matching black sleeveless top that showed off her toned curves along with four inch black stiletto heels.  He found his head swaying to the rhythm of her hips as she walked around looking at the tattoos on the walls.  She definitely wasn’t the type of woman he was used to seeing in the shop.  When he realized he had been blatantly staring he immediately looked away.  He returned to pretending to tend to the blonde that was desperately vying for his attention but she could see in his eyes that she was going nowhere fast and decided to leave with some semblance of pride.

"Excuse me?"  He looked up at the woman in front of him, smiling politely.  He quickly scanned her face, beautiful dark eyes framed by thick black eyelashes, her flawless brown skin seemed to have a golden glow from within, though unfortunately she wore makeup instead of letting her natural beauty shine though, her sensual pouty mouth sparked all sorts of instantaneous fantasies. 

"Yes ma’am I’m Christian, how can I help you?"

"Hi Christian I want to get a tattoo." 

“Yes we’ve been known to do that from time to time.”  She narrowed her eyes at him, not amused by his sarcasm.  He smiled innocently at her.  "Sorry. . .did you see something on the wall you liked Ms. . .?"

"Highsmith but you can just call me Audre.  And no I actually brought what I wanted with me."  Audre pulled out a folded up piece of notebook paper and handed it to him.  Despite the fact that he was drawn to her physically, he knew that now was the time she ruined the moment by showing him a Chinese character or heart.  Well maybe she'll want to at least getting someplace that would be fun for me.  He thought as he opened it up.  His eyebrow raised as he looked down at the drawing, actually impressed.  It was a heart, but it wasn’t just a heart.  The heart was broken in half but growing out of the pieces was an abstract black lily.  It felt like it could almost be a Frida Kahlo drawing and yet something about it was new and completely different. 

“Wow, kind of dark, I like it.  Who drew this?”  Audre grinned at him.

“I drew it myself.”  He looked at her dubiously.

“Really?  You didn’t trace it?”  She frowned at him.

“Yeah I drew it from scratch.”  She said, bristling.  He held his hands up.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to offend you.  It’s just such a beautiful piece of work, you’re very talented.”  Her face warmed as she smiled at him.

“Thank you. . .so can you do this?  I’d like to put it on my hip?”  She asked looking up at him.  His eyes moved down to her hips before slowly coming back up to her face.

“Yeah, I can do this.  For a tattoo though I think I would soften this up a bit.  On your skin this black lily would be too harsh, I wouldn’t do it completely in black but use lots of shading, and instead of using black shading either make it a deep purplish or reddish black to make it pop out against your complexion.  Also since it’s going on a curvy part of you body I would just round out some on these angles.”

She nodded.  “Whatever you think would look best.”

“Okay well let me clean up my area, draw this up and we can get started, give me about 20 minutes okay, if you’d like there’s a coffee shop across the street.”

“Okay thanks.”  He watched her as she walked out again.  Shaking his head at the involuntary response her hips were drawing from his body.  Stop acting like some horny thirteen year-old.  He admonished himself as he turned to clean his work area.

Audre smiled to herself as she walked across the street to the coffee shop.  It had been awhile since she had felt herself being blatantly checked out by someone who wasn’t homeless, drunk or had the word “teen” at the end of their age.  She had seen him watching her in the reflection of the glass tattoo displays and she had to admit she did add an extra swagger to her walk just for kicks.

But it was all just a game, after all he was hardly her type.  He was rough, not at all like the pretty boys she was used to dating, his muscular right arm was covered in a tattoo sleeve, he looked like he hadn’t shaved in a while.  Though he had beautiful eyes he also looked like he had kicked someone’s ass on more than one occasion and fairly recently.  It was actually kind of sexy but he wasn’t exactly someone to take to the company golf outing.  No, he definitely was not what she was looking for no matter how cute he was, even if the look he gave her did send a small shiver down her spine.

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“Wow, this is beautiful I absolutely love it!”  Audre was looking over Christian’s shoulder at the tattoo he had sketched out.  He had kept her tattoo but the shading and way he had smoothed out some of the sharp lines made it literally jump off the page.

“Shall we try it on?”  He asked.  She nodded.  “Okay, pull up you shirt and roll down your skirt.”

“Roll down my what?” 

“You said your hip right?”

“Yeah.”

“I can’t exactly tattoo over your clothes.”  He smiled at her patiently.

“Right, of course not.”  She pulled up her top and slowly rolled down her skirt. 

“Sorry you’re going to have to pull down the strap of your underwear too ma’am.”  He stared at the wall, trying to make her as at ease as possible.  He tried not to pay attention to the black, lacey strap of her panties that had been exposed to him, or the smoothness of her unmarked skin.  A few seconds later he turned back and kneeled of her, centering the tattoo at her hip.  Audre bit her lip, trying hard not to think about how long it had been since a guy had touched her body, even if it was just the tattoo artist – who was getting hotter by the second.

“Take a look and see what you think.”  She turned to mirror and looked at the image on her hip.

“Um I think I should have it lower so it can’t doesn’t peak out over my pants.  If my mom sees it she’ll kill me.”

“Your mom?”  He said looking at her skeptically; she was obviously old enough to do things without parental guidance.

“Yes my mom. . .and shut the hell up.”  He held his hands up.

“I didn’t say anything.”  He bent down and cleared off the tattoo, placing it lower.  “Take a look now.”  She grinned at her reflection.

“This is great; I like it just where it is.”  He smiled at her.

“Me too.  Okay lay down here.”  He turned to get a towel as she settled into the chair.  “Okay now I’m going to need you to roll your skirt down lower so I can have space to work, you can use this towel to cover up you private area ma’am.”

“You might as well call me Audre, you’re getting to see an area of my body that guys usually only see after at least buying me dinner first.”  He laughed as he looked down, prepping the needle while she adjusted herself.  He saw a hesitate look in her eyes as he turned back with the needle.

“Um, this isn’t going to hurt a lot is it?”  He bit his lip to keep from laughing again.

“It might, it kind of comes with the territory.”

“So how painful are we talking?   Like ripping a band aid off of a hairy arm pain, childbirth pain, or oh my good that guy just sawed my arm off pain?”

“Well maybe somewhere in the middle?  It really depends on your threshold for pain.”  He reached behind him and grabbed a stress ball off of the table behind him.  “Just hold on to this and remember the less you squirm the shorter time it will take.”

“How much time will it take?”

“Well if you don’t move 45 minutes to an hour.”  Her eyes widened quickly, than narrowed.  Come on Audre you’re a big girl, you can handle this.  She nodded at him.

“Okay I’m ready.”  When she first heard the sound of the needle she almost passed out, all sorts of thoughts flooding her mind.  But then he looked at her and gave her an unexpectedly warm smile.

“You can do this Audre, and you’ll be glad you did.  Take in a deep breath. . .let it out. . .good girl.”  The first stroke felt like something was clawing into her skin.  This shit hurts like hell she squeezed the stress ball, drawing in deep breaths. 

“You’re doing good Audre.”  He briefly looked up at her smiling, before he returned to what he was doing. 

“So you’re an artist?” He said, trying to distract her from the pain.

“No, hardly.”  She said through gritted teeth.  “I’m a lawyer.”

“Oh.  I’m surprised you’re not doing anything with your art, that drawing was amazing.” 

“It’s just a hobby.”

“A hobby?”

“Yeah I mean I studied a little, but my mom said there was no way in hell she was supporting some 30 year old starving artist and I needed to do something practical with my life.  So law school it was.”  He bit back the sarcastic comment that was on his tongue, instead opting to change subjects.

“So no offense but you hardly seem like someone that would be caught dead in a tattoo parlor, what made you decide to get the tattoo?” 

“It’s on my list.”

“Your list?  What like the bucket list or something?”

“More like the fuck him list.”  She said squeezing the stress ball to within an inch of it’s life.  He laughed, still looking down at his work.

“Okay so you know you gotta explain that.”

“I was dating this guy, for seven years and we were happy, at least I thought we were happy, I mean I guess we were happy.”

“How do you define happy?”

“We fit together, we came from the same background, we’re both educated, committed to success in our jobs, wanted the same things in our future, I understood him and his needs.  We were like perfect couple.”

“So by fit together you mean you fit in a defined box of what society. . .or you mom says an ideal couple should look like.”  She gave him a dirty look, momentarily forgetting her pain.

“No by fit together I mean we were. . .compatible.”

“Compatible?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, so you were living the happy or maybe not so happy life with Mr. Compatible.  And then what?”

“And then we broke up, only now I find out that within months he was living with this woman he’s been working with and then he up and gets engaged to the chick last weekend.”

“So he left you for her?”

“No, I broke up with him.”

“You broke up with him?”

“Yes.”

“Because you found out he was cheating on you?”

“No because he wasn’t committing to me.  Although now, I’m starting to wonder.”

“And you’re upset because he moved on before you did?”

“Yes. . .I mean no. . .I mean the point isn’t that he’s moving on.”

“Then what is the point?”

“The point is that, I was with him for seven years he was with her for five seconds and now he wants all the things with her that he never wanted with me.”

“And so now that he’s happy with someone else you have decided to go through this ‘fuck him’ list and getting a tattoo is at the top of the list?”  She didn’t like the way he made it sound, but it pretty much was that way.

“Something like that.”  She responded gruffly. 

“Why a tattoo?”

“Well, I kind of always wanted one, but Greg – that’s my ex- he always thought it was kind of tacky.”  She looked over and saw the amused look on his face as he worked.  “What’s so funny about that?”

“Nothing, it’s just typical.”

“Typical?”

“Yeah, I mean I’ve heard you sit here and go on and on about how you fit with this guy, you probably had this whole Barbie and Ken existence planned out for the two of you am I right?”

“You know never once did I hear you say anything about love.”

“Love?”  She frowned at him but he stayed focused on her tattoo.

“Yes love.  I mean maybe I could understand if you were still in love with the guy, but that’s not what this seems to be about.  You feel like your perfect five year plan for your life was jeopardized.  And then you let this guy who’s clearly a jackass knock your self esteem for a loop so now you’re doing all of the things you’ve always wanted to do that Mr. Compatible never approved of.”

“That’s not true.”  Okay maybe a little.  

“Audre, don’t take this the wrong way but you seem to be driven a lot by what other people think, your mom, your ex, society.  Even this ‘fuck him’ list, it’s about getting back at some guy who probably didn’t deserve you in the first place.  Do you ever do anything just for you?”

“No. . . yes. . .I mean, okay so maybe there is this expectation of what my life should look like that is in a way defined by society. . .and my mom.  And maybe I’m driven by meeting that expectation.  But really isn’t that everyone to a certain extent?  I mean we all allow society to define us in some way.  Even if you say ‘I’m an outsider’ you can only say that based on what you feel society has determined to be an insider.”

“Sure maybe to a certain extent what you say is true.  But still it seems to me that you are hiding who you are to society.  It’s more than defining yourself by societal standards it’s changing yourself to meet the status quo.  Don’t move!”  He responded as she jerked, not from the pain but from his words.

“And what the hell would you presume to know about me?”

“I know you are an artist, a great one who’s wasting your talent to become a lawyer because you let your mom scare you out of your dream.  You refrained from doing something you wanted do, probably a lot of somethings you wanted to do because your boyfriend didn’t like it.  You walk around with your designer clothes, perfectly coiffed hair, extra layer of makeup that, frankly, you don’t need, so afraid of what would happen if you let it all go.  You’re so hung up on bullshit appearances that even in a moment of freedom like getting a tattoo, you have to make sure it’s not someplace where mommy can see it.  But then I look at this incredible drawing and I can see that underneath it all there’s someone just screaming to get out of that fucking box you’ve locked yourself in.”  She stared at him aghast, taken aback by his audacity.

“Mr. . .?”

“Mueller, but I told you to call me Christian.”

“Mr. Mueller, I’m paying for a tattoo, not therapy from a guy who has a skull tattooed on his arm.”  He looked up and smiled at her.

“Well Ms. Highsmith, I’m charging you for the tattoo, but the therapy is on the house.”

“Why don’t you keep your deep thoughts to yourself and finish my tattoo.”

“No problem.”  They sat in silence as he finished up.  But she noticed he kept giving her teasing glances, he knew he had her pegged and he knew she hated it.  “Okay Ms. Highsmith, you’re all done.”  She shot him a withering look as she stood up gingerly and walked over to the mirror.  Her hardened expression softened as she looked at her tattoo.  It was breath taking.  She couldn’t get over it, it was her drawing but Christian had bought the life out of it.  She gazed at it intently, the ends of her mouth curving up into a smile.

“This is amazing.”  He nodded.

“It’s beautiful.”  She met his eyes in the mirror for a second then looked away.  He cleared his throat.  “Sit down, we gotta bandage this up for a while.”  He explained to her what to do to take care of it and then brought her up to the front to settle the bill.

“Well Ms. Highsmith looks like you’re all done.”  She looked at him.

“Thank you. . .Mr. Mueller. . .for the tattoo anyway.”  She turned on her heel walking out the door, he couldn’t help but watch knowing it was probably the last time he was going to get a look ever again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Oh hell no.”  Jenelle whispered angrily.  They were staring at a bust of Jesus, with a cell phone cradled by his ear.  Jenelle shook her head in disgust.  “Is just anything considered fucking art these days.”

“Apparently.”  Audre whispered back, they were at the breakthrough artist exhibit.  It ranged from ridiculous to just plain insulting, but at least they had top shelf alcohol.

“I told you didn’t I?  I missed Ugly Betty for this?”

“It was a rerun.”

“I hadn’t seen it.”  Audre rolled her eyes at her.  “It’s not that bad. . .”  She started until she saw the half opened can of baked beans on a pedestal.  Underneath was the title ‘Life In Vitro.’ She looked over at Jenelle biting her lip.   “Okay ten more minutes and we’ll leave okay?”

“Ten minutes Audre, I’m not playing with you.  I’ll be at the bar.” 

 They separated and Audre continued walking though.  She was about to give up when she saw the most mind blowing painting on the wall leading into another room.  There was a collage of photos in black and white of a little girl staring into the camera with a haunting look in her eyes, a bright range of rich painted colors were added to the parts of the photograph giving it a slick, stylized almost stained glass appearance.  The swirl of patterns that jumped out at her, it was chaotic but it was an organized chaos.  It was unlike anything she had ever seen, it was beautiful and moving.  She needed to know who this artist was.  She looked down at the plate underneath the painting.  C. Mueller.  She frowned to herself.  No way couldn’t be. 

“Ms. Highsmith,”  She heard the laughter in the voice and rolled her eyes turning around.  His smiled got even wider.  “I’d recognize that backside anywhere.”

Audre's eyes widened as she took in Christian, damn if he didn't look good. He was wearing a light blue v neck sweater that brought out his sparkling eyes. It was layered over a white oxford shirt and darker blue tie, he had on dark blue jeans. The only hint of the rugged tattoo artist she saw were the worn blue chuck taylors and elaborate right arm tattoo peeking out from under his pushed up sweater. She was shocked at how well he had cleaned up, but she quickly recovered.

"Mr. Mueller, wouldn't have picked you for an ass man. Then again you are a jackass." She smirked at him, normally she wouldn't have dreamt of being so rude in public, but the top shelf alcohol had made her a little bolder, plus she didn't feel that she had stated anything that wasn't fact. He threw his head back laughing as he took a step closer and leaned forward.

"It was supposed to be a secret you know."

"What? That you're an ass man or that you're a jackass?"

"Both." He nodded towards the picture that Audre had been looking at. "So I see you were admiring my work." She turned back around to face the picture and he stood next to her. She turned her head to him.

"Yeah." She said begrudgingly. "It's good. . .great actually. Frankly I wouldn't have thought it'd be something you did." He looked at her feigning shock.

"So basically, you assumed that because I'm a tattoo artist that I'm some ball busting Neanderthal that spends my off time hanging out in scummy bars and getting into fights?" Audre bit her lip, she was really started to hate the way he could seem to break her down to the most basic level in two steps. He shook his head at her, still smiling playfully. "Audre, I'm disappointed in you, after you seemed so offended about me making presumptions about who you are it would seem a bit hypocritical for you to go making assumptions about me, wouldn't you think?" She let out a sigh.

"I apologize, I shouldn‘t have confused being a rude jackass with being a ball busting Neanderthal." She turned back to the picture, her expression softened. "But, I must admit this is a truly extraordinary piece, I'm very impressed Mr. Mueller." She reached in her purse and pulled out a crisp business card handing it to him. "I'm with a law firm that specializes in representing artists. We can provide a great amount of guidance and legal counsel to a young on the rise artist such as yourself."

"And take 30% of my earnings?"

"10% actually. But it's worth it, compared to what you could lose if some jerk decides to rip off your work or a gallery offers you a shitty contract that locks you in for years." He looked over her card, then handed it back to her.

"Nah, think I'll pass thanks." He started to walk away. She looked at him stunned for a moment before following behind him.

"Mr. Mueller I wouldn't just turn this opportunity down. With a lawyer you've got the protection of your interests, I'm obligated under the law to be candid and honest with you, there are strict rules that govern what I can and can't do. I can give you the advice and counsel that you need and when you get an opportunity to sell your art, I can negotiate terms favorable to you. Further, my firm have many contacts in the industry that can get you showcased in some of the best galleries in the city."

"And why would I want to give my business to someone's who seems to have such a low opinion of tattoo artists such as myself. Not to even mention the fact that you haven't been very nice to me." He continued you walking away but she pushed ahead and blocked off his path.

"Hey you started it! You were the one that judged me first remember?" It seemed like the more of a reaction Audre had to him, the wider his smile got, like he got off on taking the piss out of her. He put his hands in his pockets.

"You're right." She blinked.

"I am?"

"Yeah I rushed to judgment about you which may or may not be accurate. So I tell what I'll consider your offer on two conditions." She crossed her arms and waited.

"Oh yeah and what two conditions would those be?"

"First, have dinner with me, tomorrow night." She looked at him as though he had grown another head.

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"I'm asking you to dinner. I'm giving you a chance to proposition me." She rolled her eyes at the innuendo.

"I don't think so."

"Why, is that too far outside of your self contained box? Having dinner with a guy that doesn‘t own a blackberry or hand out business cards, that sound too wild and crazy for you?" Audre put her hand on her hip.

"You think you've got me so pegged don't you? Well I've got news for you, I'll have you know I can get pretty wild and crazy." He gave her a challenging look. "Fine." She pulled out her blackberry, avoiding his smug look as she pulled up her calendar. "I can do 7?" She handed him back the business card which he took as he laughed.

"7 sounds just perfect."

"And the second thing?"

"The second thing is I want you to call me Christian not Mr. Mueller." She narrowed her eyes at him, his eyes widened. "I'm waiting." He stepped closer to her, his 6'4 frame almost dwarfing her 5'9 one. As she looked into his eyes, for a moment her heart skipped a beat.

"Okay. . .Christian." She said, her voice coming out breathier than normal. He scanned her face.

"I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"I knew I'd love the sound of my name coming off your tongue." They locked eyes, Audre could feel her cheeks getting flushed as she noticed how beautiful his mouth was.

"SO, I'm doing shots at the bar feeling just peachy when a guy in a penis costume just got up on the podium and started reciting Howl, and right now I‘m way too drunk and horny to deal with talking penises. I'm ready to go." The sound of Jenelle's voice cut through the mounting tension and Audre guiltily jumped back, breaking out of her spell. She looked over at Christian embarrassed while Christian looked over at the petite powerhouse frowning at her. Audre, straightened her skirt, suddenly self conscious and turned to Jenelle.

"Yeah um, I'm ready." She said clearing her throat. "Jenelle, this is Christian one of the artists showing his work." Jenelle looked at him curiously, just realizing for the first time she had interrupted something.

"Are you responsible for the can of baked beans?" He laughed.

"No, not a huge a fan of found art." She reached out her hand, then quickly retracted it.

"The fetus picture?" He laughed and motioned to his piece on the wall. She looked over his shoulder at the picture and nodded, satisfactorily.

"Nice. It's a pleasure to meet you Christian, I‘m Jenelle."

"Nice to meet you Jenelle. I‘m glad my art met your approval." He responded taking her hand.

"Christian was actually the artist that did my tattoo." Audre said. Jenelle's eyes widened.

"Oh THIS is the guy that had you all hot and bothered the other night. You didn‘t mention he was such a cutie, but then again I should‘ve guessed as much." Jenelle's head was down as she dug in her purse, looking for a piece of gum. Christian's eyebrows raised as he turned an amused look to Audre, she knew that were it not for her brown skin tone she would be a bright shade of red.

"I like her, she seems smart."

"Well obviously smart is a relative term." She said mumbling under her breath, she turned to Jenelle. "And I was not hot or bothered Jenelle. . .and that‘s the last time I take you anywhere with an open bar." Jenelle just shrugged as she turned to Christian, stuffing a piece of spearmint gum in her mouth.

"You know, Audre couldn't stop talking about you after she got her tattoo, apparently you managed to work one hell of a nerve. But I have to say that I for one couldn't even imagine her getting a tattoo, usually the closest she comes to raging against the machine now a days is painting her nails black." Audre narrowed her eyes at Jenelle, annoyed that she had proven Christian's assessments of her right. She turned back to Christian, who had still been watching her, determined to end the conversation before any more unnecessary information about her came tumbling out.

"So anyway we're gonna go." She said grabbing Jenelle by her arm and pulling her roughly towards the door. Jenelle was grinning as she waved at him.

"Bye hottie artist guy." He waved back at her laughing.

"Bye Jenelle." He turned to Audre, staring at her meaningfully. "See you tomorrow Audre." Audre ran her fingers through her hair nervously.

"Yeah um tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?" Jenelle asked as Audre ignored her ushering them out past the talking penis, still reciting poetry:

"MOLOCH! MOLOCH! ROBOT APARTMENTS! INVISIBLE SUBURBS! SKELETON TREASURES! BLIND CAPITALS. . ."

________________________________________________________________________

Audre opened the door to her office and saw Jenelle standing there wearily, a huge pair of sunglasses covering her face.

"Are you talking to me yet?" Jenelle whispered, still nursing a painful hangover from the previous night. Audre rolled her eyes in response as she stood still blocking entry. "What if I brought a slice of heath toffee caramel cheesecake?" She said holding out a white bag. Audre eyed the bag.

"Eli's?"

"Is there any other kind of cheesecake?"

"Yeah, well if you were a real friend, you would've bought the whole cake." Audre grumbled snatching the bag out of her hand and opening the door. Jenelle smiled coming in. Audre slammed the door loudly, causing Jenelle to grab her head, in pain.

"Son of bitch." She said, turning to Audre angrily. "So are we even?"

"Nope." Audre opened the door and slammed it again as Jenelle winced. She didn't think about everyone outside of her office, they were used to doors being slammed. She smiled sweetly at Jenelle. "Now we're even." Jenelle sat gingerly in the chair, removing her dark glasses.

"You know I can't believe you are this embarrassed about what I said in front of the hottie tattoo guy. It's not like he cared, he was too busy having eye sex with you to really notice anything that came out of my mouth."

"He was not having eye sex with me." Audre said, sitting at her desk, getting heated again just thinking about his intense blue eyes. Jenelle smiled knowingly.

"Don't play coy you know damn well he was all up in your kool-aid. Even I wasn‘t too drunk to see that." She said in a sing song manner as she crossed her legs. Audre glared at her.

"Okay first of all, the 90s called, they want their catch phrase back. And second of all, shut the hell up." Audre replied as she stuffed a forkful of cheesecake in her mouth, taking a moment to savor the flavors, it should've been a sin to make something that damn good.

"Oh come on Audre, stop acting like you're didn‘t love it. He‘s definitely got some flavor about him, you know for a white boy. So spill, what are you wearing? How are you doing your hair? Ooh maybe you should wear your leopard print stilettos, give him that whole Sandra Dee gone wild vibe."

"Did I mention I'm only just barely talking to you?"

"No. But if you're barely talking to me you can give me back my damn cheesecake." She said reaching for the box, which Audre grabbed from off the desk, holding away from her. "Can I at least have a bite?"

"Fine." Audre muttered. Jenelle reached in the bag and got out the extra fork, digging into the cheesecake. She closed her eyes in pleasure as she chewed the decadent piece of cheesecake. She dug in for another piece and they both chewed in silence for a moment, polishing off the cheesecake together before Jenelle finally looked at her.

"Sooooo. . ." Jenelle said looking at her expectantly.

"What?"

"Don't make me cut you heiffer."

"It's just a business dinner. You saw his art, it's amazing. I'd love to bring him on as a client." Jenelle rubbed her temples dramatically.

"Just a client? What the hell is wrong with you Audre?"

"Look, he's not my type. You know my type. You know he's not my type. So get off my back!"

"Audre, sweetie, you know I love you right?"

"I guess."

"Then you know I'm saying this out of love. Your type don't seem be working. Maybe it's time to try something else." Audre looked at her indignantly.

"I don't want to try something else. I don't get why everybody's acting like it's a crime to know what I want in life and to have ideals for myself. I'm sorry if I'm not interested in the hottie tattoo guy!"

"A HA!"

"A HA, what?"

"So you admit the tattoo guy is a hottie."

"Yes he's a hottie, if you're into that look. Which I'm not. Usually."

"But you acknowledge that he's hot, plus he certainly seemed to pull your number."

"He did not pull my number. . .maybe some of the stuff he was saying is kind of sort of true, but most of it was just bullshit. I mean he acts like I‘m some predictable, stick in the mud, I have an exciting life you know."

"What happened on the Unit last Saturday night?"

"Umm, it was a rerun. See Grey had to infiltrate this street gang-"

"A HA!"

"For fuck‘s sake Jenelle! This isn't Clue, so stop yelling out A HA like you just figured out that Colonel Mustard killed Mr. Boddy in the library with the wrench. I know my life can be. . .whatever. . .predictable. What's wrong with predictable?"

"Nothing. . .if you're a dog or 70. But you're way too human and way too young to be spending Saturdays of the prime time of your life watching the Unit. Audre, you don‘t have to marry the guy. But come on loosen up, have some fun. He‘s cute, he‘s a great artist, he seemed nice, don‘t just dismiss him because he doesn‘t fit into your upwardly mobile fantasy."

"Whatever, none of this matters. It's just a business dinner, nothing more. And he‘s not that nice." There was a knock on the door and Audre's secretary Dana stuck her head inside.

"You have a delivery Ms. Highsmith." Dana said as she stepped in. In her hand was a beautiful white music box, with a delicate black lily hand painted on the top. She reached for it but Jenelle was quicker, grabbing the box out of Dana's hand. As Dana left, laughing at the two of them Jenelle pulled off the small card. Audre just shook her head, there was no use fighting it since Jenelle would‘ve wrestled the card from her eventually anyways. Jenelle opened the box, and beautiful music emitted from it, Audre frowned in concentration.

"Is that a. . .Beatles song?" Jenelle just shrugged her shoulders as she opened the card, reading the words out loud.

"Enjoy life outside the box, can't wait to see you tonight." Jenelle grinned at Audre. "So does you date know that it's not really a date?" She handed the box to Audre, who lightly traced over the painted black lily with one finger, smiling to herself. She looked up and saw Jenelle wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at her. Audre rolled her eyes in return.

"Get out." Jenelle stood up, putting back on her sunglasses.

"Fine, but if you don't want him, can you pass him along to me because I. . ." Jenelle's voice trailed off as she saw the glare that Audre shot her. "Okay well, so much for that whole business dinner thing." She walked to the door, and opened it up. "Just remember, nice girls don't give it up on the first date. . .but you might want to take a condom just in case. . ." Audre couldn't help but laugh at her friend as she closed the door behind her. 

As much as Audre tried to concentrate she couldn't, her eyes kept going back to music box on her desk.  She ran her finger over the hand painted lily, it looked almost exactly like the one she had tattooed on her hip.  It was absolutely exquisite, and the most heart felt gift she had ever received from a man.  A man who is soon to be your client Audre, nothing more she tried to remind herself.  The sound of her intercom buzzing brought her out of her thoughts.

"Ms. Highsmith?"

"Yes Dana?"

"I have a Christian Mueller on line two?"  Audre's hand immediately flew up to her head, smoothing down her hair, she made a movement to straighten her blouse when it finally dawned on her that he wouldn't be able to see her through the phone.  Idiot.

"Yes Dana, I'm picking it up."  She took a couple of deep breaths and then slowly picked up the phone.

"This is Audre Highsmith."

"Very professional sounding Audre Highsmith."  Audre bit back the smile that was trying to break through, his deep voice touching parts of her that she didn't know still worked.  Don't go there, bring it back.  Bring. It. Back.

"Well, you are my soon to be client after all."  Audre stated matter of fact hoping like hell that her voice didn't come out as shaky as it sounded in her head.

"Right."  He said, she could hear the laughter in his voice, like everything else about him it unnerved her.  She looked over at the music box, still perched on her desk.

"Um I got your. . .present, the music box.  It's nice. . .beautiful, actually."

"Yeah? You like it?"  Audre beamed at the eager tones in his voice.

"How could I not like it Christian.  It's amazing."

"Well I'm glad you like it."

"Yeah I mean normally I don't except gifts from clients but-"

"I'm not your client yet Ms. Highsmith.  I'm still waiting for your proposition, remember?"

"Right, um of course.  So we're meeting tonight to discuss. . .you coming on as a client for Billington, Cohen and Associates.  I can email you a presentation for you to look over or would you rather I bought you a hard copy?"  He didn't respond for what felt like a long time, Audre bit her lip nervously.  "Christian?"  She finally asked uncertainly.

"Audre?"  He said mimicking her inflection.

"Why the long silence?"

"I was just waiting for you to finish your little song and dance and convince yourself that you meant every word of it."  Audre frowned into the phone.  She was getting fed up with him constantly calling her out.

"That's cute, I have a question for you.  Does your ass hurt from sitting atop that gigantic mountain of self righteousness?"  Christian burst out laughing.

"Sometimes."  He responded still laughing, Audre couldn't help but join in, his laughter was infectious.  "Alright, we'll play things your way.  For now.  Since you are wooing me as your potential client, you can pay for dinner."

"What?!"   Audre's eyes widened, caught off guard by the paying for dinner.  A woman NEVER pays for dinner that was like the golden rule or something.

"Well, the client doesn't buy the attorney dinner; it's usually the other way around isn't it?  I mean since I'll be paying your salary and all that."  Damn he had a point, dating rules didn't apply to client relationships.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Nice.  Since dinner's on you, I can order the good shit.  So, where should I pick you up?" 

"Shouldn't I be picking you up?"

"Nah gotta draw the line somewhere.  Give me your address."

"Um, I'll just meet you there."  Audre said laughing.  He seemed sweet (well maybe sweet wasn't the word) but a girl living in a city like Chicago couldn't afford to take those kind of chances.

"Okay, I'll text you the location. . .oh and Audre?"

"Yes?"

"Wear something sexy."  She rolled her eyes.

"Christian. . ."  He laughed.

"I liked those strappy dominatrix shoes you wore to the art show-"

"Christian!"

"What I could be into that, I've been a very naughty boy-"

"Okay I am SO hanging up the phone now."  Audre said, blushing and giggling.  She frowned.  Did I just giggle?  Audre was most certainly not a giggler. 

"Okay.  I'll see you tonight.  Good bye Audre."  He said, his voice still teasing.

"Good bye Christian."  She hung up the phone staring at it for a second.  What the hell was she thinking, getting all school girlish with her tattoo artist and potential client?  She kept telling herself that it wasn't that big of a deal.  Yet by the end of the day her face was hurting from smiling so much, she was sure she looked like a walking tampon commercial.  The only thing she was missing was a horse and a white dress.  Yep she was operating on her own magical high until approximately 4:22pm, when Dana buzzed her again.

"Ms. Highsmith your mother's on line one."  Audre let out a sigh, rubbing her temple.  If she was on a high her mother was like the human detox machine.

"Can you just tell her that I'm in a meeting or something."

"Well she said that if you keep avoiding her call she's going to catch the next flight up to Chicago to see you in person."  Audre rolled her eyes, she had been avoiding her mom for a while now. 

Her mom had taken Audre's breakup with Greg harder than she had, begging Audre to give it another chance, that Audre was too stubborn and hard headed and that she was on her way to being a spinster.  Audre's parents had gotten married in their early twenties and had, had 40 years of marital "bliss."  At least that's what it said on the invitation to their recommitment ceremony coming up in a month and a half.  For Mattie Anne Highsmith, a southern belle from Winston-Salem North Carolina, it was unfathomable to her that she would have a daughter knocking on thirty (okay, standing in the doorway of 30) who wasn't married, engaged or at least on her way.  It didn't help matters that her older brother Abe Jr. was already married with a wife who was pregnant with their second child, nor did it held that her younger sister Adrienne had just gotten engaged to her boyfriend that she met in undergrad.  Yep, apparently Audre was pulling up the rear in the love race and it made for one too many annoying interactions with her mother.  Mattie expected to talk to her children everyday, Audre had managed to limit it to weekly five minute conversations.  She had become particularly adept at avoiding her but it seemed that luck had run out.

"Thanks Dana I got it."  Audre said reaching for the phone.  Before she could even get out a hello she could hear her mom's rich southern twang on the other end of the phone.

"Audre Lorraine Highsmith what on earth is wrong with you?"

"What?"  Audre said, a weak attempt to buy some time while she came up with something reasonable.

"Don't ‘what' me girl.  You know damn well I have been calling your house, your cell phone and work for the last week."

"Well mama I've been busy. . ."Audre said, reverting back to the six year with her hand caught in the cookie jar.  Her mother took out a long, deep dramatic breath.

"You know, I just don't know.  I swear I just. . .don't . . .know.  I've been talking to your father about this and. . .are you on drugs?"

"Mama no!"

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No."

"Are you physically injured?"

"No ma."

"Then when I call your black ass I expect to hear back from you.  Do you remember when you were in college and you got mixed up with that religious cult and I had to come down there personally and talk to your Dean."

"Mama Wicca is not a religious cult."  Audre said, letting out another exasperated sigh.  When she was in undergrad she had started studying the pagan religion.  It was not uncommon practice at a women's college, the female friendly component of it made it something that self professed feminist gravitated to.  Her dad figured it was a phase, but her mom started freaking out when Audre became a vegetarian and started wearing her hair natural.  She had driven to Sweet Briar's College in Virginia and rolled up on the Dean of Students, Audre wasn't privy to the conversation but next thing she knew she was meeting with the Chaplain for weekly worship and bible study.  She held on to being a vegetarian for a few more months but when she came home from spring break her mom had been on a mission, it was like Operation Meat.  She didn't let up until Audre agreed to either a piece of the honey baked ham, lamb, chicken or meatloaf that she had prepared.

"That Wico or whatever you call it is not normal.  And what kind of people don't eat meat, how are you going to get your iron?  You are just too impressionable Audre."

"I thought you said I was hard headed."

"That too.  And apparently a smart mouth as well."

"Sorry ma'am."

"Audre, I know you think that I'm trying to run your life but I'm not.  It's just that I've been your age, you've never been mine.  I think I have some wisdom that I can offer to you and I just don't want you making mistakes in your life.  Your father and I worry sometimes.  You are young, smart, beautiful. . .but you know you have some blondish tendencies.  And you're in one of the biggest cities in the world by yourself, it's not like you have man at home waiting for you anymore.  Unless you've met some nice doctor or lawyer type and that's why you've been so busy."  Her mom asked hopefully.

"No, no doctor, no lawyer mama."

"Well are you going out trying to meet some young nice, educated, upwardly mobile man?"

"I've been busy at work, I haven't had time for that."

"Oh Audre, your lap top can't keep you warm at night."

"I know that."

"Well, I guess we won't get into this now.  Your secretary said you have a meeting.  I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that you didn't have that little girl lying to your mother."  Obvious guilt trip ploy but damn if it didn't work.  "So I'll let you go, but I expect you to call us on Saturday.  Your father likes to hear from you, as we get older it's more important to be near our children in whatever way we can.  We just miss you."

"I know, I miss you and daddy too.  But I'll see you in a couple of weeks when I come down there for my dress fitting."

"It'll be good to see you." 

"I love you mama."

"I love you more.  Call home, I don't want to have to repeat this conversation at a later date."  Funny with minimal effort her mom had managed to make her feel like the world's most inconsiderate daughter.

"I got it." 

"Tell Jenelle I said hello."

"I will mama." 

"Oh and I got the thank you card from Lisa, I see they liked their Waterford glasses."

"She loved em mama, she said she was sad you couldn't make it to the wedding.  But the next time she's home you all will have to do lunch." 

"Yes well you know I could leave your grandmother, have you talked to her by the way?

"I called her last night."

"Well I guess at least someone knew you were alive.  Yes tell Lisa lunch would be lovely.  Actually I just had lunch with Joan. . ." 

This sparked off another 15 minute conversation about Lisa's mom Joan.  Though Lisa and Audre hadn't known each other before college they both had grown up in Winston-Salem, there was a two school year difference and though they had known of each other, they operated in different social circles.  But it had turned out their moms had gone to school together and the girls' friendship brought them back in contact and they were close ever since.  It was a small black bourgeoisie world after all.  So Audre listened while her mom went on and on about Joan, then her wedding dress for the recommitment ceremony then some rude waiter at the country club, and how Audre's grandmother had a new boyfriend at the nursing home, but Mattie thought he was just after her money.  Every now and then Audre interjected to repeat her lame excuse about a meeting but her mom plowed right on through until she was done.

45 minutes later they finally hung up and Audre laid her head on her desk the earlier high completely blown.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A couple of hours later Audre stood in front of her floor length mirror examining herself.  She was wearing a black sheath dress with her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, it was simple, pulled together, and perfect. . .if she were going to a funeral.  She sighed as she pulled off the dress.

A few minutes later she was wearing a black jersey halter mini dress.  It was sleek, sexy and perfect. . .if she were going to a funeral at a nightclub.  Audre let out another sigh as she looked around her closet.  It dawned on her that 70% of her clothes were black.  She tried to reason with herself about it.  Audre there's nothing wrong with black, black is classic, black is simple, black is beautiful, black is. . . .easy. 

She looked at herself in the mirror, biting her lip.  She wondered when she had all the sudden become so. . .limited.  It hadn't always been that way.  But she had trouble pinning down at what point it had become her custom to take the path of least resistance.  Well, I don't feel like being simple or limited tonight.  She wanted to wear something that would prove that she wasn't just a stick in the mud like everyone seemed to think she was.

She pulled out a little top that she had bought on a whim at a sale at Niemen Marcus a year ago.  It was a beautiful deep royal blue embellished bustier top with spaghetti straps.  Jenelle had talked her into getting it because it was flattering on her strong athletic shoulders, cinched in her waist and made her tits look fabulous.  It still had the tags on it but every now and again, Audre would try it on just to make sure it still fit, she would tell herself she would wear it out one night.  But at the last minute she would always end up reaching for her signature wrap dress and pumps.  Tonight though, she was determined to do something different.  She paired the top with faded jeans and metallic t strap stiletto sandals with jeweled detail.  She took down her up do and let her thick black hair fall to her shoulders in soft, loose curls.  

Next, Audre sat down in front of the mirror looking at her normal makeup regime which could probably rival a drag queen's: matte foundation, eyebrow powder, false eyelashes, three different eye shadows (highlighter, medium and accent), black eyeliner, white eyeliner in the corners of the eyes, mascara to blend the fake lashes with hers, mascara sealant, rouge, lip pencil, lipstick, lip gloss, face powder to keep everything from sliding off and a bottle of lavender essential oil and rosewater mist in order to give a "dewy" effect. 

She looked at her freshly scrubbed face, despite the pound of makeup she wore daily, a combination of good genes and monthly facials had kept her skin clear and resilient.  Yet the makeup was like her beauty armor and applying it with care and art had become a bizarrely sublime ritual of hers.  With it she felt like she was prepared to face anything, literally it was her Sephora war paint.  She wasn't ready to let it all go, baby steps.  So she omitted the foundation, kept the eyebrow powder, used one eye shadow, eye liners, mascara and the sealant, a little rouge, lip pencil and lip gloss, with the face powder and spray mist.  That was about as natural as she was prepared to go.  She could hear her mom's voice echoing in her head; honey, even a natural beauty needs a little help when she reaches a certain age.

Audre found herself thinking about Greg, about how she used to wakeup before him to brush her teeth, wash the crustation out of her eyes and apply rouge and her berry colored lip balm, just so he could think that she woke up looking that naturally gorgeous.  Not that he noticed, by the end of their relationship she could've practically woken up looking like Quasimodo for all he cared, hell he woke up looking like Frankenstein everyday and didn't give a damn whether it offended Audre's senses.  But love was sacrifice and sacrifice was love or so she had been told.  Only now she couldn't even decide if it had been love she'd been sacrificing for.  Still she couldn't help but feel a little empty at the thought that maybe she had wasted too much of her life with someone whom she didn't love, she couldn't bear that thought so she brushed it away.  It had been love and it had been real, it just was over.  There was nothing else to say about it.  Prince Charming was somewhere waiting for her and she wasn't going to throw away one more moment of her life kissing frogs.  So is Christian the Frog or the Prince?  The little voice inside her head asked her.  In her heart she felt something tug that she couldn't put her finger on, but her head wouldn't allow her to move from what she had decided her life should look like.  She shook her head, it didn't matter because Christian was going to be her client and that was the end of that story.  So why are you wearing the expensive tittie top and stilettos?  The voice taunted.  She pushed the question out her mind as she grabbed her black sweater and big black hand bag. 

Audre spotted Christian in front of the tiny restaurant, she was running about five minutes late but he stood waiting for her.  She took this moment to quietly observe him.  He was wearing a plain white tee that was fitted enough to show off his biceps, which were bigger than Audre had first realized.  It also showed off his sleeve tattoo Audre noted she tried to conjure up distaste but she couldn't it just worked to damn well on him.  He had jeans that were comfortably loose but not falling off his ass, a look Audre hated.  He had on a silver chain and she could see the glint of the heavy silver ring she noticed he wore on his right hand, and a brown leather cuff on his wrist, he scruffy beat up work boots, and a canvas parachute bag slung over his shoulder.  It wasn't a look Audre usually went for on a man, but apparently her libido didn't get the memo, because as soon as he turned and she stared into his intensely deep eyes it started sending her all kinds of signals, she determinedly pushed them away.  No, this would not do at all.

"Hey."  He said smiling at her, his eyes sparkling.  Audre held her black sweater closed it was a nervous habit.

"Hey."  She said back.  She looked up at the tiny building with no name on it just a garish flashing neon sign that said ‘Restaurant' actually it just said ‘Restart' the ‘u' an ‘a' and the ‘n' were all blown out. She crinkled her nose up.  "This is where we're going?"  She said.  His smile got even wider.

"Yep this is the place."

"Does it have a name?"

"Yeah.  Restart."  He said pointing at the sign.

"That's cute.  What kind of place is this?"

"Come in and find out."  He replied holding his hand out to her.  She reluctantly took it as they walked into the building.  Her nervousness increased tenfold when she got a look at the inside.  It was a Mexican restaurant she was able to deduce by the fact that it looked like a piñata had thrown up in there.  The walls were painted bright yellow and red Christmas lights adorned the windows, there was a gigantic wooden cross on the far wall, and cactuses in every corner.  Old black and white pictures were tacked up everywhere, making it feel more like you could've been in some grandma's living room as opposed to a restaurant.  Well actually, her grandma's wouldn't dream of utilizing such garish décor but somebody's grandmother would she was sure of it.  The place was packed.  There were only ten tables in there, but nine of them were occupied.  The smells filling her nostrils gave an indication as to why, her stomach practically growled in response to the fantastic scents wafting from the kitchen.  He led her past the filled tables to one that was in the back, in a more intimate area.  He pulled out the chair for her before going around to his.  She was caught off guard by the effortless moment of chivalry that he displayed.  He sat across from her.  As she took her sweater off, Christian's eyes roamed over her body, before quickly coming back up to her face.  He was subtle, but Audre had caught the movement and he smiled sheepishly at her, realizing he had gotten caught.

"Nice top."

"Which top are we talking about the blouse or my rack."  Audre said looking at him with one arched eyebrow.

"Both."  He said grinning. 

"Pig."  She said rolling her eyes.  A pretty petite woman with long dark hair came over to the table setting down glasses of water as well as a basket of homemade tortilla chips and thick salsa, which Audre quickly reached for. Her eyes lit up when she saw Christian. 

"¡Hola Christian! ¿Cómo estás? ¡No nos hemos hablado por mucho tiempo!"

"Hi Rosalina!  Estoy haciendo el bien y usted?  Usted busca hermosas."  The woman blushed, giggling.  Audre try to brush off the twinge of jealousy she felt.  Damn she knew she should've studied Spanish instead of French.

"Gracias."  They conversed a little longer in Spanish Audre noticed there was a lot of giggling going on, clearly Christian seemed to have that affect on women.  Audre wasn't feeling so giggly.  She reminded herself that she had been clear that their relationship was one of client/attorney as she drummed her fingers impatiently on the table before Christian finally turned back to her grinning.

"Audre this is Roselina.  Roselina, Audre."  He said making introductions.  Roselina turned to her and nodded politely.

"Hello Audre it is a pleasure to meet you."  She said in English with a thick accent.

"Hello Roselina, pleasure as well."  Audre responded cordially if not a little coolly.

"Do you two know what you would like?"  Audre picked up the menu on the table, thinking maybe she could make a quick decision but paused when she saw it was all in Spanish.  She just pointed to something.

"I'd like the cojones de toro con salsa verde um. . .por favor."  She said, proud that she could remember, ‘please' from trips down to Miami.  She didn't really know what the rest of it meant but she knew that she liked salsa.  Christian looked at her, trying to suppress a laugh.

"Could we have a moment Roselina?"

"Of course."  She said nodding smiling knowingly as she moved to the next table.  Audre couldn't shake the feeling that she was being mocked, she didn't like the feeling at all.  He turned back to Audre, his eyes twinkling mischievously.  He leaned forward.

"I just wanted to make sure that you knew what you were about to order."  He said.  She looked at him uncertainly.

"What?"  She said reaching for her glass of water.

"Bull testicles."  She choked on her water looking up at him in horror.

"WHAT?!"  The people at the table next to them turned towards her, as she used her napkin to wipe off the water that had dribbled down her chin, her face felt heated and she was thankful her dark complexion covered up her blush.  "What the hell kind of restaurant in America doesn't have English words on the menu."  Audre muttered to herself.

"The best kind.  And it's actually pretty good, just didn't think you'd want the testicles doesn't seem like that'd be a first date activity for a girl like you."  Christian responded, she glared at him as his eyes widened feigning innocence.  He cleared his throat his face growing serious.  "Try the cochinita pibil.  It's a slow cooked pork dish served with plantains on the side, it's pretty good if you eat pork if not I can suggest something else."

"Are there balls in it?"  She said tightly.  Christian laughed.

"Um, I don't think so." 

"Then it's fine."  She replied not wanting to dwell on her feelings of inadequacy.  The waitress came back and set two wine glasses and a cork screw on the table before taking their orders, Audre took his suggestion and Christian ordered the Enchiladas de Pollo en Mole.  Christian put in both orders, and the cutesy waitress wasted no time chatting him up in Spanish once again laughing and tossing her hair back, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were obviously on a date, even if Audre refused to acknowledge that fully.  It was still obvious to anyone watching that they were out of some kind of date thing, she didn't wear her expensive tittie top for nothing.  She drained her second glass of wine impatiently.  Christian finally looked over at Audre seeming to notice for the first time that she had been left out of the conversation.

"I'm sorry, how rude of us.  Roselina was just telling me about this art exhibit going on at the Mexican Fine Arts Center, she thought it would be something that I would like."  Christian said.  Roselina turned towards Audre.

"Yes I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. . .exclude you."  Audre narrowed her eyes at the fake apology.  She didn't need a translator to figure out the vibe, disrespectful slapper translated well enough in every language. 

"Can I have more water please?"  Audre said brusquely, she knew she didn't have even the smallest right to get all jealous girlfriend acting but it didn't change a damn thing about the way she felt.  Roselina nodded politely and as she walked away Christian turned to Audre, his eyebrow raising it at her crossed arms.  He suppressed a grin and wisely decided to move along.

"I brought us a couple of bottles of red wine, they don't sell alcohol here it's byob.  But if you'd like something else, like a coke or something."

"No the wine is fine."  Audre said quickly, she could use a drink actually.  He bent over pulling a bottle of wine out of his bag.  He pulled out a cabernet sauvignon and popped the cork.  Pouring her glass and his own.  Audre took a taste, it was a delicious full bodied wine with a nice blend of flavors.  She gulped down the liquid and set the glass down.  She looked up and found him watching her, that infuriating/sexy as hell smile on his face.  She looked down at the glass embarrassed.  "This is good."  She said.

"Yeah I like it.  It's from this winery up in Wisconsin, I used to work there in the summers when I was in undergrad."

"You went to college. . .in Wisconsin?"  Audre said catching herself before she made a further ass of her herself.  Immediately she could've kicked herself.  She automatically assumed that he hadn't gone to college, she was being a judgmental jerk and she knew it.  Christian had seen the surprise in her eyes but he chose to ignore it.

"I did, I went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison."

"What did you study?"

"Business economics.  I already know what you're thinking wouldn't have pictured me as a business economics guy right?"

"Well I. . .no couldn't say I saw that coming."  Audre conceded.  "Why didn't you study art?"

"For me art is a feeling not a methodology.  Plus most of the art majors I met were nothing more than talentless, scum bags with delusions of being the next Warhol.  The only bigger assholes were the art history majors, I mean it must be part of the major to take a course in being a pretentious prick or something.  Not to mention it's probably about the most worthless major I've ever heard of.  It might as well be called the ‘I want to spend daddy's money while attempting to find myself and then marry rich' major."  Christian was refilling Audre's wine glass and topping up his so he didn't catch the look of death that Audre shot him. "What about you, what did you study in undergrad?"

"Art history."  He stopped and looked at her, sure she was just being sarcastic.  But the look in her eyes told her that she wasn't.

"Um, sorry about that.  You know, I think Latin is probably more worthless than art history I mean who the hell studies a dead language.  Definitely."  Christian said.  His attempt at lightening the mood, however didn't go over so well.

"It's fine, you're entitled to your opinion."  Audre replied looking at the glass.  Christian, took a sip of his wine.

"So then I remember you saying that your mom made you go to law school but now you are doing the art lawyer thing which is kind of combining both so that's cool."

"No it's not."  Audre said, still staring at the glass.  "It's a part of that whole fitting into a defined box thing remember."  She said reaching in her bag.

"Well you seem to like it."  Christian replied trying to pull her out of the shell that he could feel her slipping into.  She pulled out a green folder and held it out to him, still not quite meeting his eyes.  He took the folder and stared down at it puzzled.

"Here is some information about Billington, Cohen and Associates.  It's a great law firm and we really go out of our way to make the people who choose to come to us feel like more than just mere clients-"

"Audre."  Christian said cutting her off from her advertising pitch.  He set down the folder and leaned forward, forcing her to meet his eyes.  Finally she looked up at him and he was slightly taken aback by the vulnerability he saw in them.

"Why did you really ask me out Christian?"

"Well, I thought I was giving you a chance to sell yourself to me.  But I was hoping that we could at least have dinner first."  He said, trying to make light of the situation.  But Audre didn't really think it was funny.

"I know I'm not perfect but you've been riding my ass since the day we met.  You sit up here and talk about judging people but it's like the pot calling the kettle judgmental.  I'm guessing- or maybe I'm judging- that I'm not the typical girl you go out with and I'm pretty sure that this much is safe to assume, so why me?  I mean what is this for you some kind of experiment.  Let's see if I can get the stick in the mud to loosen up?  Do you have some kind of bet going with your buddies at the tattoo parlor?  I mean really, this has bad 90s movie plot written all over it, all that's missing is my cherry and you're about 10 years too late for that one.  And art history is a fucking legitimate major!"   The last part she practically yelled, drawing the attention of some of the patrons in the restaurant, but she was too pissed off and tipsy enough to not give a damn.

Christian threw his head back and laughed jovially.  Audre rolled her eyes and reached for her sweater, there he was laughing at her again, and she knew this was a bad idea.  Christian sobered up quickly when he saw her movement and grabbed her hand.

"Audre."  He said softly.  "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have insulted you or your major.  Your right, you're probably not the typical girl that I go out with.  I think it's equally safe to assume that I'm not your typical date on a Friday night.  But there's something about you that just. . .I don't know. . .I kind of like you."  Audre's expression softened.

"Kind of?"

"Sometimes you're pushing it."  He said teasingly, Audre gave him a tiny smile.  "I mean there are the all too obvious reasons, you're smart, fucking hilarious, and you're gorgeous not to mention ridiculously sexy.  You also don't take any shit off of me."  Audre laughed at that.  "But then there's also the mystery behind this buttoned up persona that you show the world.  I thought for sure I had you pegged but then you show me a drawing that's one of the most beautiful, fearless pieces of art that I've seen and you say you drew it, it just kind of blew my mind."  He held her hand in his, absentmindedly drawing circles with his finger on her palm.  A movement he seemed to not notice but Audre was all too aware of it and the tingling sensation it caused in her.

"Really?  You think my drawing was fearless?"

"Yeah it was.  It was amazing, it was. . .deceptively simple and yet infinitely complex.  And honest, it was just so honest.  Knowing that you did it made me think to myself I want to know that girl, I want to know you, beneath the surface."  Audre looked away wistfully.

"Sometimes I'm not even sure if I know that girl.  I think she got lost somewhere."  He took that hand that had been holding hers and reached up, tilting her face back towards him as one long finger lightly traced her cheek bone.

"I can see her."  He said quietly.  She felt the heat rushing to her face.

"Look, Christian, my last relationship lasted seven years and honestly I'm just emotionally all over the board right now.  My self confidence took some knocks and I think that I just need to take things day by day really get back to me you know?"  She said looking up at him.  He nodded catching her drift.

"I don't have any expectations Audre, I'm having fun with you and I hope that you're having fun with me."  She nodded.  "Look, let's just get to know each other, whatever happens it happens right?"

"Right."  She said smiling.  The waitress came back and set down their food.  Christian never broke eye contact with Audre finally looking away to refill their wine glasses. 

"Enjoy."  He said winking at her. 

They started digging into their food.  Audre could swear it just might be the best Mexican food she ever had.  The flavors of citrus and peppers combined with the pork and the plantains melted in her mouth, it was ridiculously good.  She couldn't stop the groan that escaped from her mouth as she dug in for another bite.  Christian paused from his eating to observe her, a self satisfied grin on his face.  "I take it you approve?"

"Do I approve?"  She asked him as though he had just asked if the world was round. "This is amazing!  How did you find this place?"

"Juanpa, my business partner.  His Aunt is the owner."

"Your business partner?"

"Yeah, we own the Old Town Tattoo Shop."

"I didn't realize you owned the shop."

"Yeah, we bought about it about 5 years ago we had a rough go it but it's turned out alright.  And the old man's happy that I'm actually putting my college degree to good use."   Audre's eyes widened in mock shock.

"Wait what?  You mean you actually did something that would make your dad happy?  I couldn't imagine such a thing."  Audre said sarcastically.

"Well it was purely by accident let me assure you!"  Christian responded laughing, Audre joined in with him.

"So are your parents here in Chicago?"

"Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  That's where I grew up."

"Lake Geneva, small town?"

"Population 7,000, it's not exactly a mecca for excitement.  But it's beautiful they have great hiking and snowboarding there.  Do you snowboard?"  Audre snorted.

"No.  I hate snow and nature.  Plus I'm not a fan of things that involve a high chance of ending up paralyzed.

"There's not that high of a chance of being paralyzed."

"Yeah well somewhere there's a dude in a wheelchair who would disagree with you."

"There are ways to do it safely."  She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is that how you do it?  Cause somehow I doubt you're one to play it safe."  He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.

"You're right; I don't like to play it safe.  But I can when I have to.  Maybe you'll let me teach you."

"I don't think so."

"How do you know whether or not you'll like it, if you aren't even willing to try it?"

"Because I don't need to try something to know whether or not I'll like it.  I know myself well enough to deduce the probability of whether or not it would be something that I'd enjoy and I can assure you that snowboarding is one of those things that I probably will not enjoy."

"Or maybe you would, you should give it chance."

"I don't need to eat dog food to know I don't want it and I don't need to go snowboarding to sense that I won't like it."  Christian burst out laughing.

"Okay, okay I give up. . .for now."  Christian said still laughing.  "So where on earth are you from?"

"Winston-Salem, North Carolina."

"Ah that explains the little twang that I hear."

"I do not have a twang."

"You do actually.  It's cute. . .very cute."  He said Audre blushed for what felt like the millionth time, what was it with this guy that had the power to make her revert back to being a 15 year old?  "That's where your family is?"

"Yeah everyone except my other sister, she's in New York."

"Do you miss home?"

"Hell no, I got out of there I soon as I could and haven't looked back.  Not that I don't love my family but being at home can be a bit. . .overwhelming.  Hell it's overwhelming just knowing that they can contact me by phone.  I heard Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone to communicate with his mother, obviously she was nothing like mine otherwise he would've killed that whole idea."  They both laughed.

"So when's the last time you've been home?"

"Last Christmas, that's a non optional holiday.  But I have to go home in a couple of weeks for a dress fitting."

"Dress fitting?"

"Yeah my parents are having a recommitment ceremony, I'm one of the bridesmaids."

"How long have they been married?"

"This will be their 40th anniversary, although my mom is telling people who haven't known them long enough to know better that it's their 30th, couldn't resist shaving those 10 years off her age."

"That's hilarious."

"That's my mom."

"Are you two close?"

"That's a loaded statement.  I mean we are close, I couldn't imagine not having her around even on our worst days.  When my family gets together for the holidays, it's a total riot we're always laughing and joking and it was always like that growing up too.  But sometimes for her love and control are one in the same.  I know she just wants the best for us but she doesn't always seem to get that what she thinks is best for us isn't always what we think is best for us."

"What about your dad?"

"My dad, as long as he has dinner in front of him when it's time and gets to watch football and basketball during the fall and winter and golf during the summer he's pretty content.  He's a quiet guy but there's a strength about him too.  He can be pretty intimidating when you first meet him but once you get to know him he's a total teddy bear.  He and my mom are like the living example of opposites attract."    Christian noticed that she lit up a bit when she talked about her family and especially her dad, he couldn't help but smile at that.  "What about your parents?" She asked him.

"Um well my step parents have been together about 22 years, my mom died of breast cancer when I was three and my dad married my step mom when I was about seven so she raised me and my brothers."

"I'm sorry about your birth mom."

"Me too, I didn't really know anything about her.  My older brothers have at least some memories of her but I don't have any.  I know she was beautiful and I know she loved us.  I would've liked to have more memories of her.  But my step mom I mean she loved us like we were her own, I couldn't imagine someone really wanting to raise three angry and rambunctious boys that weren't theirs.  Especially since my dad was a truck driver, he was on the road a lot, we hardly saw him at all growing up.  She had to do everything, but she stepped up like a champ.  She's my mom in every way that counts." 

"She sounds like a great lady."

"She is.  My dad too, even though I felt like I didn't really get to know him until I was older."  Audre nodded. 

They ate in a comfortable silence for a while, sometimes catching each other's eye and smiling before looking away.  Audre looked around the restaurant and found her eye drawn to a the chalk drawing it was a stylized picture a Mexican woman were wearing long skirt and white blouse falling off of her shoulders she had belts of ammunition wrapped around her upper body and a trumpet in her hand. 

Across the bottom she saw C. Mueller.

"You did that drawing?"

"Yeah,"  He said shrugging his shoulders almost as if embarrassed.  "When we were trying to get the business off the ground we were barely making ends meet.  Juanpa's aunt and cousins used to always send over food for us so we wouldn't starve. And I did this picture for them, I was just messing around, it's nothing special, just a copy of La Adelita."

"What's La Adelita?"

"She's this mythic figure from a Mexican folk song.  It's supposed to be based on an actual woman who was a Soldadera, a woman soldier who took care of the male soldiers but also fought along side them in battle during the Mexican Revolution.  La Adelita represents a woman of strength and courage but also femininity and sensuality at least that was how she was described to me by Juanpa's aunt."  Audre looked at the picture mulling over with Christian had just said.

"La Adelita. . .I like that.  And you shouldn't sell yourself short on the drawing; it's amazing even if it is a copy."

"I'd like to see some of your drawings."

"They're not as good as yours."

"Fuck that, that tattoo drawing was amazing."

"Well other than that tattoo, I haven't really done anything in years, probably not since I was in law school other than random doodles in the middle of boring ass meetings."

"See I don't think I could do that, it's like if I don't paint anything for a while I get in a funk, I'm just thrown off my game.  I need that creative outlet in my life otherwise I feel like a rat in a cage or something."

"It used to be like that for me when I first started law school I would make sure that I took a certain amount of time that was just mine, no one else's.  It was my time to paint or draw or whatever I wanted to do.  But then I started spending more time studying, more time changing, soon when I would look at my old drawers, it felt like they weren't even mine they were someone else's."  She looked down at her food, half expecting a lecture about how she should do something for her and not be so lost in following the rules or something to that effect but it never came.  She finally looked up at him, he just smiled at her not a pity smile or a sarcastic smile but a genuine one.

"Maybe someday it will be different."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"You did not just say that!"

"I did and I stand by it, the Beatles are so overrated it's ridiculous."

"The Beatles are not overrated, they are the greatest band in the history of music."

"What exactly made them great other than the fact that they had good historical timing and mastered the art of fucking up the blues and marketing it to the masses?"

"Fucking up the. . .fucking up the blues?!"  Christian threw his hands up incredulously.  "The Beatles were more than music, they were a revolution, they were a movement, they changed music forever how can you possibly say they're overrated have you even heard the White album."

"Which album?  You're going to have to be more specific, all of their albums sound like the White album to me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  Audre shrugged her shoulders.

"Just what I said."

"Alright, you tell me one artist better than the Beatles and why they're better and I'll tell you why you are wrong."

"Stevie Wonder, he did the same thing they did only with more socially relevant lyrics AND he did it blind."

"Okay he gets props for the blind thing and Innervisions is definitely one of the greatest albums ever written but that song Jungle Fever and all the shit he did in the 80s single handedly fucks up all the great shit he did in the 60s and 70s."

"Is this that whole is it better to burn out or fade away argument because that's ridiculous, later musical sins don't negate past greatness."

"I think it's totally does Stevie Wonder fucked up his legacy while the Beatle's legacy still remains in tact so you can't compare."  Audre rolled her eyes at him.

"Still remains in tact?  Hello Ringo Starr anybody?"

"He doesn't count."

"Bullshit."

"Whatever.  Are we ready for dessert?"  Audre looked down uncertainly.

"I don't know, if I should."

"You're kidding right?  Please don't tell me you're one of those chicks that are always on a diet and looks for fat on her stomach."  Audre shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"No.  But I don't think there's anything wrong with being health conscious."

"Yeah well sharing a little dessert isn't going to throw anything out of whack.  Besides, everything on you seems to be in good working order. . .very good working order."  He said as he let his eyes drift over her body, it was a move that anyone else doing would've seemed lecherous.  But for some reason when it did it, it made her feel kind of warm all over, still there was no well in hell she was going to let him know that.  She smirked at him.

"Gee, that was almost. . .sweet." 

______________________________________________________________________________________

"Oh my god this is orgasmic."  Audre said with her eyes closed, she and Christian were supposed to split a Tres Leches cake but she was practically inhaling the whole thing by herself, the decadent cake melting in her mouth.  She opened her eyes and saw Christian watching her, his blue eyes dark with intensity.  She cleared her throat.  "Okay if you could have a dinner party and invite any three people living or dead who would they be?"  Audre leaned in waiting for Christian's response.  He squinted his eyes, thinking about it.

"Leonardo Di Vinci, Thomas Paine and Megan Fox."

"Okay I get the first two, but Megan Fox isn't that the chick from transformers?"

"Hell yeah and she's hot!"

"She doesn't seem like the best conversationalist."

"Who says she'd be there for conversation."  Audre burst out laughing as she reached for her wine glass, Christian's eyes flickered mischievously at her from across the table.  "What about you?"

"bell hooks, Frida Kahlo and Djimon Hounsou."

"Who is Djimon Hounsou?"

"From Amistad.  Oh, and Blood Diamonds that movie with Leonard Dicaprio?"

"I didn't see either, I don't watch Leonard DiCaprio movies on principle."

"What principle is that?"

"The principle that says I don't like actors that seem like douchebags."  Audre shook her head, laughing.

"Okay, do you remember that Janet Jackson love will never do without you video." 

"I remember her in those ripped up jeans, I liked that a lot."

"Well he was in video too."

"Please tell me you don't mean that dude in the white Homer Simpson drawers rolling around in the wheel?"  He gave her a dubious look.

"What you can get the human blow up doll but I can't have my chocolate fantasy?"  Christian shook his head.

"Well if that's your type I guess I'm screwed."

______________________________________________________________________________________

"Favorite author?" 

"Roald Dahl."  Audre looked at him in surprise.

"Roald Dahl is my favorite author too." 

"Really, you the dark irony type as well?"

"Yeah his short stories are brilliant the first time I read Lamb to Slaughter I got chills."

"I think Man from the South was my favorite." Christian responded.  Audre nodded.

"Great story but okay so what did you think when Tarantino used it as a story in Four Rooms?"

"It was alright, not Tarantino's finest hour.  The Hitchcock version was better."  Audre smiled.

"I agree."  Christian looked at her with feigned surprise.

"You mean we actually agree on something?"  Audre rolled her eyes in response.

"Don't let it go to your head." 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"Excuse me Christian, we'd like to close up now."  Roselina said smiling apologetically at the two of them.  Christian and Audre looked around and realized they were the only ones still in the restaurant.  The bus boy had started putting up all the other chairs while half the staff was getting their stuff together and giving them impatient looks.  Audre looked down at her watch, it was 11:37pm.  The last few hours had flown by without either of them realizing.  He smiled guiltily at the girl.

"Lamento mucho Roselina.  We are standing between you and a hot Friday night date are we?"  The girl giggled.

"Maybe."  She said, blushing again.  Audre could relate to the feeling, nevertheless she still fought back the urge to roll her eyes as she stood up.

"Sorry can I just use your bathroom really quickly before we go?"  She asked, the girl nodded pointing to the direction of the bathroom while she and Christian continued conversing in Spanish. 

Audre went to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, hurriedly fixing her slightly out of place hair and pushing her tits back up.  Her phone started buzzing in her purse and she pulled it out, she had a text message.

R U DOING THE FREAKY SNEAKY YET?  Audre let out an half sigh half laugh as she looked at Jenelle's text.

GO AWAY.  She texted back, she began applying her lip gloss and her phone beeped again.

TAKE THAT AS NO.  DNT B A PRUDE!

GOODNIGHT JEN!

WHTEVA.  SPINNING SAT?

YEAH CALL ME IN THE MORNING.

She turned off her phone rolling her eyes as she left the bathroom. Christian was standing by the exit door talking to Rosalina and holding her sweater.  He turned towards her as she approached.  She looked at him.

"You paid the bill already?"

"Yeah you can take it off of my retainer fees."  He said grinning at her.  They both said goodbye to Rosalina and the other staff milling about as they left the restaurant.  It was still fairly warm outside so Audre held her sweater in her hands as they walked towards Audre's car.  When they got to her door she looked up at him almost shyly.  She realized how close he was standing to her; she could smell him, a combination of soap and something woodsy.  She struggled to keep from blatantly inhaling his fresh scent.

"I had a good time tonight."  She said finally.  He smiled down at her, brushing away a strand of hair that was covering her eye.

"Me too."  His eyes drifted down to her mouth and his thumb followed the trail, brushing lightly over her bottom lip.  He bent towards her, his head tilted and mouth inches from hers.

"I don't kiss on the first date."  Audre said hoarsely even her eyes drifted closed.

"Well it's a good thing we aren't really on a date then."  He whispered as his lips gently met hers.  She had a sarcastic response ready but somehow it had disappeared into the mush of her mind as his surprisingly soft lips pressed lightly against hers.  His hands were on the side of her face, as she wrapped her arms around his waist pulling him into her.  She parted her lips slightly and his tongue met hers as they gently melted into each other.  She could taste the sweetness of the cake they had eaten earlier.  His fingers lightly massaged the back of her neck and she moaned in response, her chest pressing tightly into his.  Suddenly she felt his body pulling away from her and her eyes flew open in surprise and biter disappointment.

"What happened?"  She asked almost bewildered.

"Just didn't want to push you past your threshold. . .not yet anyway.  After all we haven't even had a real date yet."  He said smiling that infuriating sexy smile at her.  "So can I call you for a date sometime?"

"Um yeah that would be. . .that would be nice." 

"Good night Audre."  She bit her lip.

"Good night."  She said pulling herself together finally.  He reached around her, his arm lightly brushing up against her body, she jumped away as though he had a disease.  She knew that if he touched her there would be little to stop her from pulling him into the back of her car and fucking him like she was in heat and well, that just wouldn't be very lady like.  He opened the door for her and she got in, brushing down her disheveled hair.  He looked down at her smiling, he looked so damn good, her face reddening slightly as he closed the door.  He motioned for her to lock her car doors then waved to her through the window as he backed away.  She waved back, before watching him as he turned and walked back to his car.  Her head tilting slightly as she watched his firm ass walking away, damn where does he get off having an ass like that she thought to herself as she watched him for a minute. 

She frowned at her reflection; she was getting way too excited about this.  Audre could instantly provide a whole list of reasons why this thing shouldn't be happening.  True the list had steadily dwindled by a considerable amount during the course of the evening but something inside her was still holding back.  She could at least admit to herself that she liked Christian, she liked him a lot.  Which made this whole thing even scarier: she felt like her heart and her ego had taken a bit of a beat down in the last year she couldn't help but feel like she needed to put the brakes on this thing between her and Christian before she got too emotionally open too soon.  She had barely been dating Greg for a month before she had started practicing writing her name with his last name at the end.  It was pathetic, she knew that now that's why she was afraid of getting that giddy feeling so early on in things.  It shook her up a bit.  But her gut reaction to Christian was unlike any she had with even Greg.  With Christian she couldn't really play it cool with him, not even a little bit and she couldn't figure out for the life of her whether that was a good or a bad thing. 

“Audre, baby you feel so good.”   

“Christian don’t stop. . .” 

She could feel his lips on her body, their softness a perfect contradiction to his rough hands gripping her thighs.  He gently kissed her neck and nibbled on her ear as his hips rotated against hers.  She was dripping wet as he pumped in and out of her.  As her legs wrapped around his waist she could almost ignore the ringing in the distant.   

“Harder Christian.”  She said moaning as she tried to concentrate on the feeling of him working his way into her body but the ringing just kept getting louder and louder.  Finally he paused in mid stroke staring down at her. 

“Audre. . .what is that?” 

“Who cares, just keep going.”  She said her hands gripping his firm ass trying to get him to do that thing with his hips again. 

“Seriously, what the fuck is that?” 

Audre’s eyes opened and she stared at phone committed to killing whoever was on the other end of the line. 

“Hello.”  She said gruffly into the phone.

“Morning sunshine.”  Her mom said cheerfully into the phone.  She sat up and looked at the alarm clock it was 7am, she let out a sigh. 

“Morning mama.”

“Don’t sound so excited honey.”  Her mom said sarcastically.  “I thought you were going to call.”

“Yea. . .when I woke up.”

“Why aren’t you up already, it’s late.”

“Not for a weekend.”

“Were you out last night or something?”

“Yes.”

“On a date?”  Her mom asked hopefully, Audre groaned she didn’t think she was ready to sacrifice Christian to the wolves quite yet.

“Mama. . .”

“Okay fine I’m not pushing.  I already said my piece yesterday, I just called so you could talk to your father we were talking about you at breakfast this morning.  Hold on. . .ABRAM. . .ABRAM I’VE GOT HER ON THE LINE PICK UP!”  Audre snorted, ‘we were talking about you at breakfast’ was pretty much code for I’m still worried about you so I’m sicing your father on you.

“Hey baby.”  Audre couldn’t help but smile at the sound of her father’s deep rich voice on the other end of the line.

“Morning daddy.”

“How are you?”

“I’m good, or I will be as soon as I have a cup of coffee.”

“So everything’s okay, nothing you want to talk to me about?”

“No, why would you think that?”

“Your mother is worried about you because we haven’t really heard from you.”

“Things have been busy at work.”

“That’s what I told Mattie but she’s convinced that something’s wrong she thinks your depressed-“

“I did not say that Abram, I just said that maybe she wasn’t feeling like her self.”  Her mother said cutting in.

“Mattie can you hang up the phone and let me talk to my daughter please?”

“Your daughter?  You say that like you were the one that spent 10 hours in labor pushing her out through your uterus, funny I don’t remember that happening, I do remember you hyperventilating in the waiting room, that part I recall very well.”

“Mattie why are you bringing up old stuff?  You wanted me to see if the girl is okay, she sounds fine, she’s fine, I’m fine, everyone’s fine.  Now can I talk to our daughter in peace please?”

“Fine, fine, I’m hanging up now.  Bye sweetie, I love you and remember I’m here for you.”  Audre couldn’t help but laugh.

“Love you too ma.”  They both waited until they heard the soft click of the line indicating Mattie had indeed hung up.  “So how are you really doing daddy?”

“This wedding planning shit is getting on my nerves, I mean we’re not younguns anymore.  I’ve been married to her for 40 years already, hell I’m too old and trained to leave now.  I’m like Brooks from Shawshank Redemption- wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have the woman controlling my every move.  What the hell do we need a wedding for?”  Audre laughed.

“You talk a good game but don’t act like you wouldn’t reverse the world for mom if she asked you too.”  Her dad laughed. 

“Yeah of course I would, she’s my girl.”  He said affectionately.  “But this wedding stuff is still out of control, I don’t why she even wastes my time asking my opinion, she just does what she wants to anyways.  Really all she needs to do is put me in a tux and tell me what time to show up.” Audre smiled, for all his grumblings she knew he was still crazy in love with Mattie.  Seeing the two of them and her aunt and brother’s marriages gave her faith that it was possible to find your soul mate.  

“You know mom.”

“Yeah I do and you do too.  She’s concerned about you, does she need to be?  Do I need to be?

“I’m fine daddy, I promise.”

“Good, you sound good.”

“I’m doing good actually, right now things are good.”

“I’m so happy to hear that.  So when do you get home?”

“Um, I get in the night of the 18th.”

“Do you need me to pick you up?”

“No I’m renting a car, I have a super early flight out on the 20th so it’s easier that way.”

“Why are you staying such a short amount of time?”

“I have work, it’s a crazy time right now.”

“Okay, well what time should we expect you at the house?”

“Um, I’m getting a hotel room-“

“What?  Why would you come home and stay at a hotel?”

“I figured it was easier this way, you know with me coming in late and leaving early and all.”

“I don’t like that, that’s not right Audre you should come home, stay with your family.”

“Dad-“

“Audre, I don’t ask much of you.  I know your mother can be overbearing but I don’t care, I don’t want to hear about you staying in a hotel and trying to hide out from us.”

“I’m not hiding daddy.”

“I’ve known you all your life girl, I know your M.O., I haven’t seen your face in months.  You want your mother to get off your back, staying at a hotel isn’t going to do it.”

“Okay, okay, you’re right.  I’ll cancel the reservations.”

“Good girl.  I can’t wait to see you.”

“I can’t wait to see you either.”  Audre said honestly, she did miss her dad, her whole family actually.

“Love you baby.”

“Love you too daddy.”  They hung up and Audre looked at the clock again, she was officially not getting anymore sleep, she might as well make good use of the morning.  She dialed another number waiting until she heard the line pick up followed by a string of curse words.

“WAKE UP HEIFER!”   Audre yelled into the phone.

“Why, why are you calling me?”

“Spin class!  This was your idea remember?”

“Hmph.”  Jenelle grumbled in response.

“If you get up now we can get the good bikes in the front.” 

“If I get up now we can also beat the Saturday rush at OHOP.”

“Meet you in 45 minutes.”

“Yep.”

50 minutes later Audre and Jenelle were sitting in a booth at the Original House of Pancakes.  When Audre lived in the south she practically lived off of the Waffle House, when she moved to Chicago she learned to live with IHOP but then she discovered the magic of OHOP and no other breakfast place compared.  She even loved how the waitresses all knew her and could remember every single order without a notepad.  It was just like cheers without the alcoholism.  After Ms. Gladys (the waitress) left, Jenelle turned to Audre expectantly.  Audre tried to play dumb.

“What?  Why are you staring at me?”  Jenelle rolled her eyes.

“Don’t act stupid heifer, what happened on your non date?  I want the scoop.  And don’t lie because I can tell.”  She could tell, she was like a human lie detector, Audre hated that about her.  Jenelle made an impatient hand motion indicating for her to get on with the story.

“Okay, okay.  I had fun.  It started off kind of rough, I think he was trying to purposely get me all riled up by paying more attention to the waitress than me, talking in Spanish-“

“He speaks Spanish?”

“Pretty fluently from what I can tell.”

“That’s pretty hot.”

“Yeah well the waitress must have thought so too because she was all giggly and flushed.  I started to get really annoyed.” 

“Even though he was fully within his rights since you had repeated declared it a non date.”  Jenelle said, Audre glared at him.

“Shut up.”

“I’m just sayin.”

“Whatever.  Anyways he started slagging off art history majors and it was just not going well but then we just. . .leveled with each other, laid all our cards on the table and it just went from there.  We ended up talking for hours, we were practically kicked out of the restaurant.”  Audre got a far away dreamy look in her eyes as she thought about Christian, the truth was that she couldn’t remember a time in her life where she had had so much fun just flirting and getting to know a guy.  She looked up as Ms. Gladys refilled her coffee cup, she winked at them and called them her sweeties before moving to the next table, Audre loved that.  When she looked back over at Jenelle she was smiling smugly at her.  Audre gave her an exasperated look.

“Just say it.”

“I don’t know what to say, I just haven’t seen you this into someone in a long time, maybe ever.”  Audre shook her head.

“Whatever, we’re just having fun.”

“Just having fun huh?  So when are you going to tap that?  Or are you going to be a traditionalist and do the whole 3 date thing?”

“What’s wrong with being a traditionalist?”

“Nothing, if that’s what you want and you’re not doing it just to follow some played out rule.”  Audre let out a sigh.

“Honest?”

“Honest.” 

“When he kissed me last night I was about 30 seconds from losing it.”

“Really, it was like that?”  Jenelle said leaning in.

“He did this thing with his tongue-“  Audre paused as Ms. Gladys came back and set down their breakfast she started blushing just thinking about it.   She closed her eyes trying to will away the tingly sensation she was starting to feel.  “Anyways, it was memorable.  Besides, I wasn’t the only one out last night what happened with you and that guy you met at the car wash?”  Audre said, deciding to shift the focus.  The thought of being intimate with Christian was already infiltrating her dreams she didn’t need to be consumed by it when she was awake too.  Jenelle shrugged.

“Well things were going well as long as I let him talk about car detailing or the latest edition of XXL magazine. . .I don’t know.  He was smart I could tell, he just didn’t enunciate very well which was distracting.  I think it was the diamond grill but I can’t be too sure.”

“He had a diamond grill?  Isn’t that a bit odd for a 30 something year old to have a diamond grill. . .especially in Chicago?”

“Well. . .he’s 22, kind of channeling that Lil Wayne thing. . .and he’s from East St. Louis.”

“Oh he’s a youngun.”  Audre said, she wasn’t too surprised Jenelle’s policy was as long as he was old enough to buy her a drink; she was willing to consider him.  “Well then I guess it’s good he wasn’t rocking the Jheri Curl too. . .he wasn’t rocking the Jheri Curl too was he?”  Audre bit back a giggle. 

“No, I draw the line at Jheri Curls and Fila tracksuits.  I do have standards you know.”  Audre went into a full on laugh and Jenelle joined her.

“So are you two an item now?”  Jenelle scoffed.

“I don’t think so.  About 12:30am when I was fixing my heel that got broke while I was running out of the club-“

“Why were you running out of the nightclub?”  Jenelle rolled her eyes.

“Gun shots.”  Audre’s eyes widened and Jenelle shrugged her shoulders.  “I know girl, I don’t know what the hell I was doing there.  So anyway when all that happened I sort of had this moment where I realized that maybe I need to rethink the type of guys that I date.”  Audre rolled her eyes in response.  Audre and Jenelle went for complete opposites, if the soundtrack to Audre’s dream man was Jay Z’s “Excuse Me Miss,” Jenelle’s dream man’s would be “So Hood”.  It was probably one of the many reasons they got along so well, they were never in danger of stepping on each other’s toes. 

“So I take it the date ended abruptly.”

“Well if by abruptly you mean in bed, then yes it did end abruptly.”  Audre choked on her orange juice.

“You slept with him?”

“No I didn’t sleep with him, I fucked him and then dropped off into a deep 5 hour coma like sleep.”  Audre burst out laughing.

“I can’t even believe you!”

“Why not?  Maybe that whole Mother Theresa thing is working for you but I’ve got needs.  And there’s just something about that type of guy that does it for me, he definitely had it going on.  His body was beautiful, girl he put it on me for sure.  I would still be asleep were it not for your ass.”

“That’s what friends are for.”  Audre said smirking.  “But seriously, you need more than sex to make a relationship.”

“Of course, you need compatibility, the ability to laugh together, communication, a mental connection.  All of that is crucial.  But bad sex is a definite deal breaker.  That’s what worries me, I don’t want to end up with some accountant type guy who’s weak in bed and into vanilla sex.”

“Well you’re an accountant type gal and your sex life definitely isn’t vanilla.  Besides, vanilla can be good sometimes.”  Audre said seriously Jenelle laughed.  “What?”  Audre said frowning.  “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing it’s just that well. . .have you had anything other than vanilla sex?”

“I’ve had good sex.”

“Yeah good vanilla sex.  Don’t forget I know you girl, you’re idea of switching things up is doing it with the lights on.”

“Whatever, just because I have been handcuffed to a steering wheel doesn’t mean I haven’t experimented.”  Audre said pointedly, referring to a particularly kinky affair Jenelle had with a police officer a couple of years back.  Jenelle smiled wickedly.

“Hey don’t knock it til you try it.”

“I wasn’t knocking it, I just think you can’t compare my exploits to yours, I may not be swinging from the chandeliers but I can get pretty wild.”

“Okay tell me about it.”

“Tell you about what?”

“This kinky sex you had, tell me about it.”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Why?  It’s not like you don’t tell me everything else.”

“Well. . .”  Audre paused thinking.  Jenelle looked at her watch, timing the seconds why whistling the theme to Jeopardy.  “Okay well once, Greg and I had sex in the kitchen.”

“In the kitchen.  That’s your kinkiest experience.”

“That’s pretty crazy, do you know how unsanitary that is?  I mean, food gets prepared there, I had to bleach the counters afterwards.”  Jenelle threw her head back laughing.  Audre’s frown deepened.

“Okay so maybe I’m vanilla.  But I’m stepping out of my comfort zone.”

“For sure, Christian definitely doesn’t seem like the type that does vanilla.”  Jenelle said thoughtfully, Audre paused.

“You don’t think he’s into a bunch of weird freaky shit do you?” 

“I don’t know define freaky.  I mean he is an artist type and all those tattoos could indicate he has a thing for pain, plus you know how white boys get down they’re into all sorts of stuff that we would consider freaky.”  Audre rolled her eyes.

“That’s just a stereotype.”

“Some stereotypes are true, most black Americans can do the electric slide, many women confuse booty calls for relationships, plenty of gay men are stylish, and a lot of white boys are freaky.  Just because something is a stereotype doesn’t make it untrue.”

“That’s just wrong.”  Audre said shaking her head.

“Why?  Personally I hope the shit is true.  I like nasty smuttiness.”

“Well I don’t.”

“How do you know, you’ve never tried it.”

“I’m not into getting tied up and playing master and the slave girl.”

“That’s because you’re a control freak.”

“No.  That’s because I saw Roots and it didn’t look like fun.”  Jenelle rolled her eyes laughing.

“You gotta loosen up Audre.  Sex is a great thing and being handcuffed and spanked by someone you trust while wearing edible panties isn’t a bad thing.”  Audre grimaced.

“Can we please not talk about this while I’m eating eggs?”

“Fine.  All I’ll say is you should open your mind up to new experiences.”

“What like you?  You always say that you’re going to rethink the types of guys you date but then you always show up with a guy that looks like he’s a member of G Unit.”

“I know but this time I mean it, I’ve been telling you to try something different maybe it’s time to take my own advice.  So we should both pledge to venture out of our comfort zones.”

“You and I like what we like, there’s not anything wrong with that you know.”

“I can’t speak for you but I’m not ashamed to admit that liking what I like isn’t always a good thing.  There is something seriously wrong with the fact that I’m 31 years old and spent last night in a car that looks like it was on an episode of Pimp My Ride.”

“What’s Pimp My Ride?”

“Exactly.  It’s a damn shame I even know what that shit is.”  Audre laughed.  “I’m serious, I’m done.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“Well you get to see it next weekend when you come as my date to the 100 Black Men black tie event.”

“Say what?”

“Their annual event, Casino Nights, you have to come with me.”

“I have to come with you?”

“Yes because you are going to be my wing woman to help me snag a nice man, there’s going to be at least 100 of them so one of them has to work out right? Besides I endured a talking penis for you.  You said you owed me one so I’m cashing it in.”  Audre let out a sigh.

“You know at least one of those 100 is probably going to be Gregory right?  He’s a member.”

“Oh, damn girl you know I didn’t know but I guess it seems like the kind of thing he would be a part of.   I’m sorry you don’t have to go.”  Audre thought about it for a minute, she wondered what she was so afraid of.  So what if she saw Greg, she was over him right?

“You know what, you’re right I owe you for the talking penis.  It’s a great networking event.  I’m not going to hide out and not go to things just because there is a chance Greg could be there.  Besides,”  She said taking in a breathe.  “I think I’m seriously past all that’s happened.”  Jenelle smiled.

“Good for you.  Besides the worst is over right?  I mean, you already saw him propose to the leaky eyed one at your friend’s wedding while you were wearing a tacky ass bridesmaids dress, it couldn’t possibly get worse could it?”  Audre nodded, trying to push away the feeling of dread that was bubbling at the bottom of her stomach.

“I guess not.”

“And it’s a great excuse for us to go shopping today, get a killer dresses that will make Greg and every other guy there drool all over themselves.”

“Yeah sure.”  She said distractedly as she cut up her banana nut pancakes.  Jenelle bit her lip.

“Look if you don’t think you’re ready to see-“

“I’m ready.  We don’t even know if he’s going to be there, he’s such a workaholic he could be at the office that night anyways and if he is there then I’ll deal.  Besides I would pay money to see you pick up a ‘vanilla’ guy.”  She said laughing, she looked down at her purse as she heard her phone ringing, she thought for sure it would be her mom calling about something else but smiled when she saw the number.  “Hey you.”  She said smiling.

“Hey gorgeous.  Did I wake you?”  Christian said, she closed her eyes just hearing the sound of his voice after the way he kissed her last night sent a shiver down her spin.

“No I was having breakfast with Jenelle.”

“Tell her I said hello.”

“Christian says hi.”  She said to Jenelle who was sitting there with a self-satisfied look on her face.

“Did you dream about me last night?”  Christian asked teasingly.  Audre blushed and quickly stood up walking away she didn’t want to give Jenelle anymore material to tease her about. 

“No.”

“Liar.”

“Whatever, you are so stuck on yourself.”  Audre said indignantly.  Christian just started laughing as she shook her head.  She heard honking in the background.  “Where are you?”  She said changing the subject.

“In the car on my way to open up the shop.  I was calling because I wanted to make sure I book you for our next date, so you can put it in you Blackberry.”  Audre laughed.

“No matter how many times you tease me you’re not going to get me to give up the crackberry.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”  He said laughing with her.  “So Wednesday night, are you free?”

“Yeah I think so.”

“Good pencil me in then.”

“Okay.  What are we doing?”

“Ever been to a roller derby match?”  Audre wrinkled up her nose.

“Roller derby?  No.”

“Don’t sound so skeptical, my friend Predator has a match on Wednesday I want you to come.”

“You have a friend name Predator.”

“Well, her name is Margaret, but she prefers Predator.”

“Um. . .okay.”

“She’s my business partner Juanpa’s wife so you’ll get to meet them and some of the guys that work down at the shop.”  Audre’s eyes widened, they had only been on one date and it took her most of the night to even acknowledge that it was a date, now she was going to start meeting his friends.  Was she even ready for that?  “It’ll be fun I promise, very casual atmosphere.”  He said sensing her hesitation.

“Well it’s definitely something new, that seems to be happening a lot lately with you.”

“Yeah isn’t it great?”  He said.

“Yeah it kind of is.”  She said grinning. 

“Okay so Wednesday night, I’ll call you this week with the details.”

“Sounds good.”

“Later Audre.”

“Later Christian.”  She hung up still smiling almost forgetting how apprehensive she had been about the possibility of seeing Greg.  That chapter of her life was closed and she was excited about the prospect of the new one that was just beginning.

Audre rushed around the bedroom of her condo. One was foot clad in a converse low top the other one bare, as she hunted for her other shoe.  She looked up as she heard the sound of the buzzer, her eyes drifted to the clock.  Shit.  It was already 6:45pm, she was running late.  She went over to the intercom and pushed the button.

"Hello?"

"It's me."  The deep voice on the other end replied.

"Me who?"  She responded teasingly.

"The guy standing outside in the pouring rain holding a heavy ass box." 

"What kind of box?"

"It's a surprise.  Let me up already!"  He said.  She buzzed him up pulling open the door, watching as he shook the water out of his hair. He climbed the steps to her place with a giant, wide, plastic box in his hands.  He looked up at her grinning.

"What's that?" She asked, as she opened the door wider inviting him in. 

"You'll see.  Should I take off my shoes?"

Her eyes dropped to his wet work boots, then lifted to his lopsided smile. Cute.  Messy, but cute.

"Nah, we'll be leaving soon." 

She was inwardly cringing somewhat but she convinced herself it wasn't that big of a deal, she could just mop up her hardwood floors tomorrow.  Besides she was determined to prove she wasn't the stuffy, anal person that everyone had her pegged as. With a tinge of trepidation, she watched as he set down the wet box.  Maybe I'll mop up tonight.  She thought to herself as she winced at the sound of his shoes sloshing across her floor with every step. He stopped to lean in, pressing a kiss sweetly upon her lips.  She instantly forgot about her poor floors. Her body melted into him. The droplets of rain from his hair and nose sprinkled her lightly.  He pulled away, eyes locked on just her, taking in her fitted white tee shirt and jeans. His ice blue eyes continued the journey up to her ponytail which was pulled high on her head.  She hadn't had a chance to put on her makeup yet. Without it she looked more like a fresh faced college student than a high powered attorney.

"I like this casual look on you.  Not that the power suits and dominatrix pumps aren't smoking hot, they definitely . . . definitely are.  But this is nice too."   He said jokingly pulling her bouncy ponytail.

"Thanks."  She eyed his wet hand skeptically even she smiled brightly. Clearly he didn't know rainwater was like Kryptonite for the black woman with relaxed hair, but she figured that could be a conversation for another time. 

He turned his attention from her. She watched him take in his surroundings. A slow walk around her place, his eyes bounced off every detail. What was he thinking? Possibly that it was less sterile than he expected, considering her conservative image. She had to agree, looking at her place from his perspective. Red painted walls and comfortable looking brown leather furniture with jewel toned accents, this was who she was which was different from the image she purposefully tried to portray.

"I really like your place."  He announced.

"Thank you, I do too."

"Where do you paint?" 

"I haven't done any painting since I bought this place.  But when I draw, I like to sit over there."  She nodded towards the space by the large bay window.  He walked over to the box and picked it up, moving it to the window.

"You have an easel?"

"Downstairs in storage, why?" 

He opened the box.

"I remember you telling me that you used to like painting with acrylics.  So I brought some supplies. Maybe if you, you know, ever feel like starting up again you can."  He opened the top and Audre squatted, looking inside.

"You bought all this for me?"  Her eyes were wide as she surveyed the contents: stretched canvas, paints, brushes and materials.

"Well," he paused, his cheeks reddening and then nodded, "This art store that was down the street from me went out of business. They were practically giving the stuff away when I bought supplies I bought like 20 of everything practically.  So technically, no, I didn't buy it for you but I'll be happy if you use it."  She ran her hand over the synthetic brush bristles pensively.  "So. . .what do you think?"

"This is great, thank you Christian I...I can't believe you did this."

"I have selfish motivations.  I'm hoping one day when you start painting again, that maybe you'll paint something for me." 

She eyed him doubtfully.

"Seriously, you want my artwork? C'mon, you're a professional. I'm...hey you know...I'm just an amateur."

"So?"

"So the only thing you've seen that I've done is that tattoo which was just a doodle, you might hate my painting."  He shrugged.

"Tell you what, why don't you paint something and I'll be the judge of that.  Don't worry, I'll tell you if it's shit." 

Audre shook her head--ponytail swaying. She looked back up and saw how genuine he was.  No one had really taken an interest in her art other than her professors and art friends from college. It was nice. Taking a step closer she cocked her head to the side.   "I have no doubt."  She then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.  "Thank you this was really sweet."  But the truth was that Audre was a little weary.  She had all but abandoned her art a long time ago, other than random doodles she just didn't think she had it in her anymore, not really. 

"Thank me by painting."  He said forcing her to meet his eyes, they stared at each other for a long moment before he glanced down at the floor.  "Don't you need two shoes to go out?"  He gave a pointed look at her one bare foot.

"Yeah I gotta find my other shoe. I'll be ready in a second.  The kitchen's that way. Get yourself something to drink if you'd like. I've got to...um...find my other shoe."  She said as she turned towards her bedroom.

Audre limped back into her bedroom. Immediately the hunt resumed. She dug around the back of her closet for her long lost converse, it had been a while since she had actually worn them.  "Ah ha!" she exclaimed as she snatched it free of her tangled jungle of 4 inch stilettos and boots. A triumphant smile played over her lips, as she stuffed her foot inside.  She walked to her vanity and eyed her makeup. She didn't have time to do her usual routine so she settled for lip-gloss and a dab of mascara.  When she re-emerged from her bedroom she found Christian standing in front of her largest living room wall staring at all the pictures.  He turned to the sounds of her footsteps, a brow quirked, his eyes questioning.   

"Are these pictures all of your family?"

"Yep, this is my wall o' relations."  Audre waved her hand outward at the display. She stopped and stood next to him looking over the smiling faces.  He pointed at one picture.

"That your parents?"

"That's them.  Abram and Mattie Anne Highsmith."  Audre gazed upon the old photograph encased in a Tiffany silver frame. It was from the 70s. Her dad was wearing an old school apple hat and bell bottom jeans, staring up at her mom adoringly as she sat on his lap.  Her mom was wearing a long, flowing sun dress and wide brim hat, her head thrown back as though she was laughing at something he had said, one slender hand holding her hat to keep it from blowing away.  It seemed as though they were oblivious to the phantom photographer, who had captured a pure moment of them basking in their new love. This was her favorite picture of them. Soon she found herself smiling, when her eyes slipped over to him she was surprised to see him smile as well.

"They look happy."

"They were, they still are. . .most of the time." 

"Your mom's beautiful.  You look like her." 

Audre's eyes widened in surprise. "Really, I never thought I looked anything like her.  I mean she's like this glamorous curvy, southern belle, and I'm all lips and skinny legs."

"You've got her eyes."  He was looking at her now. She was drawn to that stare. His eyes were intense, the color of rain. Such a soft clear blue she wanted to slip into them. They leisurely traveled from hers down to her mouth.  "I don't know whose lips you got but they're sexy as hell . . .they suit you."  Audre could feel the flush rising in her cheeks. 

"Thanks, I like your lips too."  She said, her voice soft and shy, she spied a wicked smile on his lips at her weakening.

"You do do ya?" He asked moistening his lips as if her admission was an invitation.

"See give a man a compliment and it goes straight to his head."  She joked, he didn't laugh, instead his eyes still focused on her mouth. "So. . .are your parents cool about the whole interracial dating thing?"  Audre blurted out.  He looked at her in surprise, it was a random change in conversation but she was afraid that if they kept talking about lips it would lead down a path that she wasn't ready for yet, especially when his looked so damn kissable.

"Not that I would really give a shit if they did, but the only requirement that my parents put on my dates is that they be mentally stable.  My first serious girlfriend was a bit of a psychopath, for lack of a better way to put it."

"A psychopath? That's deep. How so?"

"For valentine's day she gave me a picture that she used her own blood to draw."

"Um seriously?"  Audre noise pinched in disgust.  "Did you accept it?"

"What can I say, I was heavy into the Sex Pistols at the time so she was kind of like the Nancy to my Sid."

"Okay you do know that Sid killed Nancy right?"

"Yes, but I was 16, I thought relationships were supposed to be dramatic."  Audre just stared blankly at him.  "Okay, I was smoking a lot of pot and experimenting with mind altering drugs back then too."

"Yeah obviously."

"Anyways Crystal had a flair for the dramatics, so that was just kind of the tip of the iceberg.  One time when we had a fight she left a pig's heart with a nail driven through it on our doorstep.  My mom flipped out. Crystal wasn't even allowed on our grass after that. Anytime she would come around my mom, she would start sprinkling holy water around and reciting some weird prayer.  My family's not even Catholic; she heard it on the Exorcist." 

Audre tried to bite back a laugh.

"You can laugh, it was pretty funny. . .in retrospect."

"Thank you."  Audre said, then exploded in laughter.

"Anyways, after that whole experience the girl could be purple for all they care. . .hell the girl could be a dude as long as he/she isn't certifiable, they're okay with it." Audre laughed even louder, holding her stomach.

"Okay it's not that funny.  I loved that girl." 

"Oh hell yes it is.  And for the record I can assure you I'm not certifiable, a little batty maybe, but you will never find a pig's heart on your doorstep from me."  Audre laughed even harder. 

"That's a relief."  Christian laughed a little as well.  As they sobered he glanced at his watch.

"We better get going; the bout starts at 7:30." 

"Okay."  Audre grabbed her trench, umbrella and purse as they headed towards the door.  She locked the door and they went downstairs, Christian's hand on her lower back gently guiding her towards his car.  She blinked when she saw the large silverish-purple vintage car in front of her place. 

"That's your car?"

"Yep that's my baby."

"Wow, 1957 Chevy Bel Air, I'm surprised and then I'm not." She gave him the side-eye. "It totally fits you." 

"What? You know about cars?"

Audre shrugged. "Yeah I know a little something, something about cars.  Why is that so shocking?" 

He cocked one eyebrow at her. 

Audre laughed, "Christian, there's a lot you don't know about me."

"Damn, I see."  He said as he unlocked the door and opened it, helping her into the car. 

"Thanks."  She said. She closed her umbrella and slid into the butter leather seats, the car was beautiful it was obvious a lot of work had been put into restoring it.  Even the cd player, which could've easily stuck out like a sore thumb and taken away from the classic beauty of the car, was designed to fit in subtlety.  She leaned over to pop the lock on the driver's side letting Christian in.  He got inside, slicking back his wet hair. 

"I knew you were one of the great ones."  He said grinning at her, Audre frowned at him.

"What?" 

"Never mind, it's just some stupid line from a movie."  He mumbled as he started the car and pulled out and onto the street. 

"You restore her yourself?"  Audre checked out the inside detail, impressed. 

"Uh huh, took two years, countless hours, more money than a small business owner should spend on a car, especially when I don't drive her everyday.  But Bettie's worth it."

"Bettie, that's her name?" 

He smiled.

"Yeah, it fit." 

Audre laughed.

"Does Bettie have a 700rh transmission?"

"For sure, you can't half step it with a th350."  He turned to look at her curiously.  "So how do you know about cars anyways?" 

Audre just grinned, loving the fact that she could surprise him with her knowledge. 

"Yeah okay, you've managed to shock the hell out of me, duly noted Ms. Highsmith." 

Audre threw her head back and laughed for a moment before finally answering him.

"My grandpa was really big into restoring things. It was one of his hobbies. He was good with his hands.  He and my grandma lived right up the road from my school, I used to hang out in his garage and help him restore stuff cars, furniture, and transistor radios, whatever.  He'd crank up the radio and we'd sing along to blues or country songs." 

Christian smiled, Audre looked at him for a moment.  "You know, you kind of remind me of him, cocky, opinionated, funny, doesn't give a shit about what anyone else thinks."

"Sounds like my type of guy, we should definitely hang out."  Audre's smile faded a little.

"He died when I was 13." 

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."  She said quickly.  They rode in silence for a few minutes but it was a comfortable silence, Audre looked out of the window. She stared out at the lake and the trees zipping by as they drove up Lake Shore Drive. 

He leaned over and turned on the cd player.  Audre instantly recognized the song playing as a cover of an old blues song, it would've been easy to hate on it under the accepted notion that covers are hardly ever better than the original.  But something about the singer's voice appealed to her.  "I like this."  Audre announced a couple of songs later.

"That's The White Stripes, one of my favorite modern bands.  They're not Robert Johnson which even the lead singer himself admits, but . . .I don't know, it's pretty good I think."

"I agree, I'll definitely have to check them out." 

They pulled into a parking garage and headed into the sports pavilion. Together they joined the sea of people lining up at the doors.  Once inside they were treated to the loud sounds of rock music, blasted throughout the pavilion.  Christian guided them to their seats in the third row and helped Audre take off her jacket before getting her settled.

"You want a drink or food or something?"  He asked her.

"Are you gonna get something?"

"I could go for a hotdog and a cold beer."

"I'll have the same thing you're having."

"You want a hotdog and beer?"

"Um. . .do they have martinis?" 

Christian laughed.

"No but they have wine . . .if you don't mind the kind that comes in a box." 

"Yeah, um no.  I'll just have a beer. . .and a bottle of water." 

He nodded standing up. "I'll be back." 

As he went off to get the food Audre took the time to really absorb the scene. Christian squired ring-side seats. So close they could probably touch the skaters as they passed by.  It was a raucous atmosphere with an interesting mix of hipsters, metal rockers, and typical Midwestern families all in a merry mood. 

People were wearing their team colors and face paint, waving pompoms and signs.  Audre looked to the floor and uncovered the source of the loud music, an all girl band was playing a set and people were dancing and singing along, Audre had never seen or heard them before but she got into the spirit of things. Chair dancing to the music as the pavilion filled up with people. 

Audre heard someone clear their throat purposefully and looked up seeing a guy standing over her smiling.  He looked Latino. Olive skin, long brown dreads and warm brown eyes, he was holding a beer in his hand. 

Juan Pablo "Juanpa" Carranza 

He nodded to the seat on the other side of her.

"I'm sitting over there."  He said.  Audre smiled in return and stood as he passed her by, he took off his coat and flopped down next to her, getting comfortable.  He eyed her a couple of times, not in a lecherous way, more curious than anything.

"You Audre?"  He asked finally.  She looked at him surprised.

"Yeah."  She said, cautiously.  He stuck out his hand.

"I'm Juanpa."  Audre's eyes widened in recognition.

"Christian's friend and business partner."  She said as she took his hand.  "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, I've heard all about you."

"Uh oh, that's nerve wracking."

"Why is that?"

"I'm guessing the description was something along the lines of anal, uptight creepy lawyer type who doesn't know how to let go.  Am I right?"  

He looked at her thoughtfully, taking a sip of his beer before he answered.

"Actually that's not how he described you at all."

"It isn't?"

"No it isn't."  He said, Audre waited for him to elaborate but he didn't.

"So, what did he say about me?  Just out of curiosity." 

"Cute, smart and funny."

"Funny that could mean anything.  Did he say funny like funny haha, or funny like weird?"

"He just said funny."  Juanpa said taking a sip of his beer.  "He also said you have a tendency to overanalyze things." 

Audre frowned.

"I do not overanalyze.  I mean yes, okay, maybe I do have a tendency to think deeply about things but I'm just a naturally analytical person. I wouldn't say that I'm over analytical. Just acutely analytical."  She gave an indignant huff. 

"Okay."  Juanpa said.  Audre nodded. They sat there awkwardly for a second.  She became aware of how narcissistic she potentially seemed to this person whom she had just met.  Quit while you're behind Audre.  She told herself.

"Have you been to roller derby before?"   He asked her, Audre visibly relaxed.

"No, I'm a derby virgin." 

Juanpa laughed. It was a rich deep sound. 

"Is that so?"  His brown eyes sparkled playfully.  He leaned forward and pointed towards the track in front of them.  "Basically two teams of five play what they call "bouts" that's where skaters score points by doing full circuits of the track. Passing as many opponents as possible.  It can be kind of confusing at first but once you get into it, it's pretty fun."

"Yeah I googled it."  Audre said excitedly.  "I saw that each team has a jammer, which is the only player that can score points, then you have three blockers that try to stop the other team's jammer--" She briefly paused as she took her Altoids out of her purse, popped one in her mouth before offering one to him. "--and then you have a pivot which I'm not so clear on but I figured I'd get the hang of it eventually. . ."  Her voice trailed off as she noticed Juanpa looking at her, amusement clear in his eyes.  She felt like a total geek.  "So now I'm totally playing into the anal, uptight creepy lawyer stereotype aren't I?"

"Nah."  He gave her a relaxed chuckle, "Okay, maybe a little bit, but it's cool that you googled. Most people probably wouldn't give enough of a shit to do that.  Plus there's something oddly endearing in your ramblings, its fun listening to you talk. Check out how your hands flail back and forth."

"Um. . .thanks?"  She said.  He struck her as the type that didn't talk much yet he had an easy, laid back manner about him that she liked.  Despite his chill demeanor though, she had a strong feeling that nothing escaped his observation, and the twinkle in his eyes seemed to suggest that he was in on some big joke that no one else got.  "So, why is your wife's nickname Predator?"  She asked him.

"Oh you'll find out in about 5 minutes."

"Find out what?"  Christian asked as he moved to sit down, handing Audre her food and drink while balancing his own.

"Why all your beautiful dates dump you as soon as they meet me."  Juanpa said winking at Audre mischievously. She just laughed and shook her head.

"Yeah right."  Christian scoffed.  "Until Maggie put the cupid chokehold on ya the only reason you even got dates was because girls felt sorry for you--pity dates dude, pity dates..."

"Whatever, the only pity is that back in my player days there wasn't enough of me to share with all the pretty ladies."

"You better not let Maggie hear you talking like that. She'd probably revert to Predator and do a kamikaze on your ass."

"My baby's got nothing to worry about she knows she's all the woman I need and then some."

"She's also the only one that could deal with your ass."

"Lovely Audre here was dealing just fine until you came over."

"Hey I'm not EVEN getting involved with this pissing contest."  Audre said laughing at the guys and their good natured ribbing, she could tell they probably had back and forth's like this everyday.

"So I see you got a chance to meet this raggedly chump over here."  Christian said tilting his head towards Juanpa.

"Raggedy chump?" Juanpa said incredulously, he turned towards Audre.  "See now I can understand what Hilts sees in you, the question is what do you see in this skinny pale boy over here?"

"Hilts?"   Audre laughed as she turned to Christian who was rolling his eyes.  "Your nickname is Hilts?  Why's that?" 

"Because he's the master escape artist."  Juanpa interjected laughing, Audre noticed that Christian was not at all amused at the turn the conversation had taken.

"What did he escape from?"  Audre asked as Juanpa laughed even harder.

"You'll have to ask him that." 

Audre looked at Christian.

"Never mind, it's just some stupid story from college." 

Audre looked back and forth to each guy.

"Why do I get the feeling there's a crazy story behind that?"

"Because there is."  Juanpa said still laughing.  "But I ain't telling it."  

Audre looked at Christian.

"Oh come on, this has to be good.  You gotta tell me now." 

Christian leaned in and whispered in her ear. "That depends, what are you offering?"  He said, his voice as smooth and flow easy. It sent a familiar tingle through her one she immediately shook off.   

"Um. . .not that cowboy."  Audre replied trying not to get caught up in the light fragrance of his citrus spice aftershave.  His smiled widened as though he could read her mind before he pulled away.

"Too bad.  Then my lips are sealed." He took a bite of his hotdog.  She punched him playfully in the shoulder.

"Whatever Hilts."  She said as she took a bite of her own hotdog.

"Alright lovebirds, enough with the subliminal foreplay my lady's about to start busting some broads any minute."  Juanpa announced as he took another sip of his beer. 

Just then the lights dimmed and the announcer came on and announced the teams.  The crowd got on their feet cheering on the Manic Attacker's versus the Hell's Belles, which was Predator's team.  It didn't take long for Audre to figure out where the Predator moniker came from. 

Margaret aka "Maggie" aka "Predator" Carranza 

The woman was a tiny powerhouse, barely breaking 5'3, she had a wild mane of dreads and a raw energy she put off that was intimidating.  She stalked the floor in a red mini skirt and took the girls on the opposing team down like it was her life's mission.

Predator had massive fans. It was evident in the way people waved their signs and chanted her name throughout the bout.  And she played to the crowd, at one point stopping after a particular vicious hit to take a handful of popcorn offered by one of her adoring fans.  But it was obvious that Juanpa was her biggest fan as he cheered her on, shouting loudly.  Every time she delivered a heavy hit to her opponent, he would turn to Audre and Christian.

"Did you see that?  Look how badass my chick is!"  

And Predator seemed equally enamored of her husband, blowing kisses to him or making funny faces whenever she skated by.  Audre got in on the action, yelling and cheering on Predator's antics.  Normally violence and women beating each other up wasn't really her thing, yet violence and women beating each other up on roller skates somehow seemed downright charming. 

The opposing teams both egged and cheered their opponents on, even high fiving after they took each other to the ground.  It was a competition but also good natured entertainment where everyone including the spectators were invited to get involved.  Plus it was hard not to get into the festive atmosphere and all the entertainment they had going on between breaks.  By time it was all done, Audre was out of breath and losing her voice.  She couldn't believe how much fun she was having.

"So how was your first derby experience?"  Juanpa asked, as they gathered up their things.

"It was fantastic! I'd give it a 10."  Audre said breathlessly.

"So that means you'll be back then?"

"For sure!  I'm officially a derby convert."

Christian looked at Audre, a sly smile to his lips, eyes gleaming.

"Nice. You two up for meeting the team for drinks?"  Juanpa asked, but gave his boy the eye to see if he was cool. Men and their codes. Audre smirked at the little exchange.

"Yeah I'd love to meet everyone." She said.

"You sure?  You don't have to work tomorrow?" She could hear the surprise in Christian voice. When turning to look over she saw a spark of excitement.

"I do but it's still early enough, I'm up for it." 

The three of them headed to a bar called the O'Leary's Pub. A welcoming Irish themed spot with a covered beer garden out back.  The place was packed shoulder to shoulder as fans from both teams poured in from the Pavilion.  Some drunk asshole slammed up against Audre pushing her into Christian's back. 

Oh hell to the no.

This was definitely not Audre's scene, and if she got a drink poured on her, she was going to have to hurt someone pointblank.  Christian pulled her around in front of him, his body becoming something of a make shift shield, she relaxed slightly against him as they moved towards the back.  Juanpa cleared the way, making a path through the crowd to the bar. The bartender spotted him immediately, passing off drinks and nodding in greeting to towards. Audre noticed the guy behind the bar was cute: tall, shaggy brown hair, and brilliant jade green eyes. He looked no older than his early 20s, and like Christian and Juanpa, he had visible tattoos.  Something about him seemed familiar.  He leaned on the bar.

"What's up J, Hilts?  Predator take em down?" He yelled over the crowd

"You know she did."  Juanpa boasted. Mr. Green-eyes looked at Audre, giving her the brief once over.

"And you are?"He called out, giving a lopsided grin.

"Audre."

"Audre, I've seen you before haven't I?"  He asked, his eyes narrowed.

"You may have seen her when she came into the shop a while ago to get a tattoo."  Christian said, he turned to Audre.  "Sam's one of our artists."  

Sam snapped his fingers in recognition.  "Oh right, you're the one that had Hilts all huffy!"  He said laughing.

"Huffy, I made you huffy?" Audre asked, smiling up at Christian, who cocked an eyebrow, indignant arrogance clear on his face.

"Negative.  Was definitely not huffy." 

"You were a little huffy."  Juanpa said shrugging his shoulders.

"How would you know you weren't there?"

"Juno told me the story."

"Story there was no story." Christian eyes darted between his boys, Audre noticed how careful he was to avoid her questioning stare.

"You were walking around muttering something about spoiled chicks and their moms, then you said something about great asses, it was pretty funny the way Juno told it to me on the phone, actually he has your voice down pat." 

"Hey!  Spoiled?" Audre pouted, elbowing Christian. He gave a playful wince at the poke as she cast him the side-eye.

"What I want to know is what the hell is up with a bunch of tatted up grown ass dudes gossiping in the shop like little middle school girls?"  Christian said looking at Juanpa and Sam. "And,"  Christian said turning to Audre. "By the way I could tell by the disdain in your eyes that you were thinking all sorts of not so nice things about the little punk covered in tattoos trying to give you advice."

"I wanted a tattoo not Dr. Phil in Converse, so yes, I found you to be a cocky asshole."

"And I forgive you for that."

"Do you?"

"Mm hmm, just like I'm sure you forgive me for jumping to the sort of wrong conclusion about you."  He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him, giving her his best puppy dog look.

"Sort of?"

"Well, I still think you're a little spoiled but I'm enjoying you proving me wrong."

"Trust me, anytime Hilts gets his panties in a bunch, it's a big deal because it pretty much never happens.  It means he must have liked you."  Juanpa winked at Audre.  "Isn't that cute, you made him huffy."

"That is pretty damn cute." Audre laughed. Christian kissed her on the nose. Sam laughed too, leaning on the bar until Christian gave him the death stare. He still hadn't forgiven him for bringing the subject up in the fist place.  Sam cleared his throat.

"The usual for yous two?"  He called out to Juanpa and Christian.  They both nodded. 

"And what drink will the lovely lady be having?"  Sam eyes again leveled on Audre.

"I'll have what they're having." 

He nodded pulled out three glasses, filling them with spotted cow beer, setting the glasses in front of them. Juanpa went to pull out his money but Sam shook his head.

"C'mon man, you know your money is no good here, what would I look like charging my two favorite bosses for drinks."

"Smooth." Audre laughed as she took a sip of her beer.

"I thought so."  Sam gave her another cocky grin. "So how the hell did Hilts pull you?" 

"Right so you do know all the props you get for the free drinks will be totally wiped out by hitting on my date?"  Christian said staring at him hard. 

"I wouldn't dream of hitting on your date, just acknowledging that she's too good for you."

"Don't worry, I already told him that."  Juanpa said laughing. 

Sam moved on to help other customers while the three of them sipped their beers, Christian's arm still wrapped comfortably around Audre's waist holding her against his firm chest. She tried, unsuccessfully, not to get too comfortable with the feeling.  Juanpa pulled out a pack of cigarettes and nodded towards the beer garden.

"I'm gonna have a smoke, why don't you two grab a table upstairs before it gets too crowded?" Juanpa said. 

Christian nodded, and Juanpa winked at Audre again before slipping back through the crowd. Audre noticed that Christian kept his arm protectively around her, giving the eye to any guy and even some of the women (apparently Roller Derby was a haven for lesbians) as they headed towards the staircase.  The feminist/independent side of Audre didn't care for that- unfortunately that side was losing the battle to the other 90% of her thought it was really hot.  They climbed the stairs and found a cozy wooden booth tucked away in the corner, huddling close so they didn't have to yell over the music. 

"Will Juanpa see us all the way back here?"

"Yeah this is where we usually sit."  They sat for a while, sipping their beer. Finally after a while Audre couldn't resist a little good natured ribbing.

"So. . .Mr. McCool, Christian ‘Hilts' Mueller got huffy over little ole me?" Audre asked, batting her eyelashes with dramatic flare.  Christian laughed.

"Now who's letting things go to their head?" He asked, as he slipped his arm around back of the booth.  "And for the record, this'll be the last time we hang out with my Judas friends."

"Okay you SO didn't answer my question.  Is it true, did you get a little huffy?"

"Yeah maybe your little jab about my skull tattoo kind of hurt my feelings." 

Audre burst into laughter.

"Yeah right, you didn't get your feelings hurt because I didn't want your therapy."

"Yeah I did, a little bit."

"No. What hurt your feelings was that I wasn't swooning over those beautiful baby blues of yours."

"Is that right?"

"Uh huh, I know your type. Used to getting your way, the bad boy with the charm.  Probably used to some moony-eyed college girl falling into your chair and begging you to put a tramp stamp on her lower back." 

Christian drew back, looking at her in mock hurt. "Is that what you think of me?"

"Yep, and it's true too.  You think you're the only one that read people Mr. Mueller?"  She teased.

"Well you're wrong about the bad boy thing."

"Is that so?"

"It is, I'll have you know I'm a very good boy."

"I thought you said you were a naughty boy?"

"I can be, if you like. If you're wearing those strappy shoes you like to wear."

Audre eyes dropped to her beer, having a flashback to Jenelle talking about freaky white boys. 

"Aw you're blushing."  Christian said laughing.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"How can you tell?"

"What you think because you're black I can't see you blushing?"  He asked. "Well I can.  Your cheeks get a rosy glow to them." He pinched her cheek.  Audre laughed, but Christian's eyes got serious.  "Damn you look all cute and innocent, I almost feel guilty for wanting to take advantage of you." He said, his finger lightly stroking her cheek. 

She looked up at into the deep blue of his eyes. Intense. Watchful. She lost her breath for a second.  She bit her lip and his eyes followed the movement.  She liked how sexy he made her feel, she didn't know if she had ever felt this desired before. She grabbed his tee shirt, pulling him towards her and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. His groan came from some place deep rumbling in his throat. He pulled her even closer, his hand cupping her chin as he deepened the kiss. Her eyes closed as their breath mingled, the faint of taste of beer and peppermint lingering, their mouths molding together perfectly.  She moved onto his lap and his hands immediately moved to her jean clad thighs as she snuggled against him, their mouths never leaving each other.

"Wait. . ."  Christian said into her mouth as Audre tried to pull him even closer.  "We gotta stop. . .Juanpa. . ."

"Shut up."  Audre murmured. Her hand disappeared under his shirt, feeling the tight muscles of his stomach.

"Audre," He panted again, a little firmer this time but still not quite breaking the kiss.  Audre lightly nipped his lip before pulling back, realizing that he was right, this was neither the time nor the place. But damn did it felt nice.

"Guess I couldn't resist those beautiful baby blues after all."  Audre said as she straightened his shirt before picking up her beer, a self satisfied smirk on her face. He looked at her slightly bewildered.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"I was just proving a point."

"What point is that?"

"That I'm not that innocent and that sometimes I do, do things just for me."

"Point proven."  Christian said grinning.

"Thank you."  Audre replied.

"On second thought. . .maybe I need a little more convincing."  Christian leaned in to kiss her again when they heard someone clearing his throat loudly.

"What's up you two?"  Juanpa said sly grin on his face. He strolled over, set down two glasses of beer as he pulled over a chair.

"What took you so long?"  Christian asked.

"Didn't think I'd be missed.  Besides I had to collect the wife."

"Where is she now?"  Audre asked.

"She's taking pictures with some fans, she'll be over shortly."  He said, he tucked his hand under his chin like a teenager.  "So. . .what'd I miss?"

"Not much."  Christian said, running his fingers through his hair. Juanpa just looked at him dubiously.

"Ahoy-hoy!"  Predator called out as she sat plopped down on Juanpa's lap and set down four shot glasses and a bunch of lemons.  She was freshly showered and changed out of her derby uniform.  Now, sitting there in Birkenstocks and tee shirt with the earth on it, she looked nothing like the hardcore warrior on roller skates that she was earlier.  Her eyes flipped up and locked in on Audre. 

"Hi there."

"Hi," Audre nodded.

"Cool that you came out tonight, thanks!"  She said holding out her hand. Audre found her grip strong. She spoke with a strong Chicago south side accent.

"I'm Audre."  She said returning the shake. 

"I know, I've heard all about you."  Predator said, with a cryptic smile.  Audre didn't really want to dwell on the implications of the statement; it was said in a friendly enough tone. But she could feel that Predator seemed to be sizing her up and inputting all sorts of data about her for future reference. It was also clear that she was fiercely protective of Christian.

"Do you prefer Predator or Maggie?"

"Predator when I'm in roller derby mode, but outside of that you can call me Maggie."  She turned to Christian.  "Nice lip-gloss champ."  She winked at him before she took a drink of the beer Juanpa had brought over.  Christian quickly wiped his mouth and took a sip of his own beer.  "So what did you think of it all, Christian told me that was your first time at a derby bout?"  Maggie asked her.

"It was amazing, you're a great jammer that one headlock take down move you did was pretty fucking brilliant."  Maggie's brows rose in surprise and Christian beamed with pride.

"You did you're homework, nice I like that.  And you survived sitting in the suicide seats. Most first timers aren't too fond of the possibilities of roller girls ending up in their laps"

"Yeah she was going crazy out there cheering for you too. I definitely think we have a convert over here."  Juanpa added.

"Yeah it looked like you were into it, that's great I'm glad you came. Now,"  Maggie, handed everyone a shot glass. "Drink up kiddies."

Juanpa and Christian shook their heads.

"I have to get up early tomorrow and drive Wisconsin to get some stuff for the shop."  Juanpa said, moving his shot in front of Maggie.

"And I have to drive in a bit, I'll pass."  Christian added.  Maggie shrugged her shoulders and put Christian's shot glass in front of Audre.  "Oh well guess us broads'll have to drink up for the both of yous."  Audre grimaced.

"I don't think so, I haven't had Tequila since college and that experience ended badly."

"Oh come on, it won't kill you I promise.  This is Cazadores, the smoothest Tequila.  Don't leave me hanging Audre." 

Audre looked from Christian, to Juanpa to Maggie.

"What the hell."  She shrugged, picking up one of the shots.

"Alright."  Maggie said handing her a lemon. "We're drinking to, good health, good times, good sex!"   

"Great sex." Juanpa interjected holding up his beer glass.

"Hell I'll drink to that."  Christian also picking up his glass, they all clinked glasses before Maggie slammed her shot, and Audre followed suit.  Audre hacked, once the alcohol burned a trail down her throat it wasn't as severe as drinking Jose Cuervo but it for damn sure wasn't that pleasant.  After the burning went away, she instantly started feeling a bit warm all over.  Christian shook his head laughing at the look on Audre's face.

"Mags could you please Audre sloppy drunk tonight."

"I'm a big girl, I can handle it."  Audre said indignantly, sucking on her tongue that was now numb.

"Atta girl!"  Maggie said laughing. "Alright round two." They took the next shot together.  

It seemed to have broken the ice and for the next hour or so all four of them talked about everything from music to art.  Audre loved watching Maggie and Juanpa interact; they seemed to have gone through a lot together.  It was funny how their personalities seemed so different and yet seemed to meld together perfectly.  Maggie was loud, energetic, and quirky, launching into one crazy random story after the next.  Juanpa on the other hand was much more mellow, and quiet but he was also quick witted, accenting each of Maggie's crazy stories with a sarcastic quip. 

Audre told her own crazy stories. She and Maggie bonded over Flight of the Conchords and Doctor Who.  They made her feel like part of their group even though she had just met them.  Christian chimed in with his own stories and opinions but mostly he watched Audre, smiling, almost like he was seeing her for the first time or at least a part of her that he didn't know existed.  The time flew by and before they knew it, it was well after midnight and Christian had to practically pull Audre from the bar.  He guided her to the car, her still a little wobbly on her feet. 

Christian had stopped drinking hours ago. So he held her steady, guiding her into the passenger seat before settling in on the driver's side.  He smiled at her sweetly before starting the car.

"You had fun tonight?"  He asked her.

 She nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. Me too."

"I really like your friends." Audre slurred, her tongue still numb, her words came out thick and heavy.  She rolled down the window to get some fresh air.

"Well I think they liked you too, especially Juanpa I don't think I've seen him ever talk so much to someone he just met." 

"Well I like Juanpa too, he's very mischievous."  

Christian smiled. 

Audre stared at his profile for a long while.  "You're pretty hot." 

"Thanks, I think you're hot too."

"Thank you. Are you a freak?"

Christian burst out laughing and turned to look at her."What?"

"Are you a freak?  Jenelle said white boys are freaky."

"Is that so?  All of us?"

"Yeah, I told her that was just a stupid stereotype but she said some stereotypes are true.  I don't really do a lot a freaky stuff, I mean maybe, I could, I don't know. One time I had sex on a kitchen table which I thought was kind of naughty but Jen said that was vanilla.  I've thought about doing other stuff though." 

Christian bit back a smile. He already knew she was going to regret this conversation in the morning.  Still he couldn't help but indulge a little.

"Like what?"

"Jen says I should try being tied up."

"And what would you like to try?" Christian asked, his eyes slipped over to her, and roved down over the curves of her body before quickly turning back to focus on the road.

"Maybe joining the mile high club, role playing, doing it on my desk at work. . .actually the other night I dreamed about me screwing in your chair at the tattoo parlor."  She giggled. 

Yep, she was definitely going to regret that in morning, but at the moment she didn't feel one bit shy about saying it.

"My chair?  Damn, well we definitely gotta make that happen."  He mumbled, more to himself than her.

"Do you spank?" 

"Ummm. . .not usually, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about spanking your ass though." 

Audre smiled with almost girlish glee. "You've thought about spanking my ass?"

"Amongst other things."

"Really you've thought about you and me having sex?"  She attempted to sit up in her chair.

"You sound surprised."

"I am, I mean I just have a hard time imagining myself being that girl."

"What girl?"

"The one that guys fantasize about.  Don't get me wrong, I know I'm attractive, and smart, funny, and loveable."

"Don't forget modest."

"That too.  But I've just never thought of myself as being. . .you know. . .particularly sexy." 

Christian looked at her, his eyes dark and intense even within the shadows of the night. "You have no idea how fucking sexy you are."  He said.

"Thank you, you make me feel that way." She said honestly. They both fell silent. About five minutes later, she fell asleep.   

**

The sound of Audre's alarm going off at 6:30 in the morning aroused her from her sleep.  The pounding in her head reminded her of the previous events.  She had flashes of her conversation with Christian and groaned.  He must think I'm the biggest loser.  She thought to herself.  She realized she was still in her clothes but that her shoes had been removed, she didn't remember anything beyond being in Christian's car.  She looked over at her nightstand and saw a large glass of water, two aspirin, her house keys and a note.

You're cute when you sleep- though you did leave a drool stain on my leather seat.  Take it easy today, be sure to drink lot's of water. 

Audre laughed out loud, it wasn't the most romantic of love notes but somehow it was a perfect way to start her day.

After slamming Tequila shots and beer on Wednesday night, Audre was virtually useless the bulk of Thursday. She put in a call to her secretary deciding to work from home.  However, the day was spent sprawled over the couch as she nursed her hangover while watching a marathon of America's Next Top Model. The indulgence would set her back for the rest of the week. 

After losing her entire Thursday, she spent all day and night Friday and half of Saturday buried under a mountain of work. The only thing keeping her somewhat sane was Jenelle with the friendly delivery of Starbucks, plus the random emails and personal messages from Christian. 

In truth, she couldn't just blame it on Wednesday night. Audre had been distracted for a while. Her heart wasn't in her work. She felt like she was discovering parts of herself that she had locked away a long time ago. An awakening.  A self-discovery she wasn't prepared to put back in the closet of self-doubt.  But she also had a mortgage, bills and a lifestyle to maintain so it was time to get her ass in gear and handle her business.  Still she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be truly doing something that she loved like Christian or even Jenelle- she had never known someone get that turned on by numbers. 

The sound of her phone buzzing brought her out of her thoughts.  She looked down and saw that she had set a reminder: Jenelle event tonight.  She slapped her forehead. Audre had completely forgotten that she was supposed to go to the 100 Black Men Gala with Jenelle.  Jenelle had reminded her several times during the week, there was really no excuse. Again if she was honest with herself she'd admit to her subconscious' feeble attempt to bury, evade, or discount the inevitable. 

She thought about calling Jenelle to cancel but she couldn't do it. Jenelle was always there for her through breakdowns and terrible art shows. Audre had made a promise to her, there was no way she would break it.  She sighed as she closed up her work and shut down her lap top preparing to get ready.  Normally she would've made an appointment to get her nails and feet done, probably her hair too in order to prepare for this sort of event, but she hadn't had time.  So instead after she took her shower, she spent almost and hour wrestling with her hair before pulling it back into a low bun at the nape of her neck then haphazardly freshened up the polish on her nails.

She looked in her closet and saw the cream colored dress she and Jenelle had picked out for her to wear tonight.  She wasn't in the mood.  Instead she reached for a black v strap jersey floor length gown she had worn to a work event a few months ago.  The tea bags she had put over her eyes had only minimally helped with that all-nighter puffiness under her eyes.  Still by the time she put on her makeup she had to admit she looked pretty good. 

The mirror doesn't lie. Physically she was perfect, yet somehow she still felt off balanced.  It was highly likely she was going to run into Greg or at least some of his friends and she wanted to ‘look eat your heart out gorgeous', she had only managed to rise to the level of see ‘I didn't totally fall apart after we broke up pretty'. 

Oh well, it was better than the burlap sack she had been wearing the last time she had seen him. This was a step up.  Besides she was with Christian now so why the hell was she worried about what her lame ass ex boyfriend thought about her? 

She didn't care was the right answer. 

And Audre kept telling herself that the entire drive up north to the Gala.

**

Audre nervously fixed her updo for the umpteenth time and straightened her dress nervously as she and Jenelle scanned the room.

"Stop fidgeting you look gorgeous."  Jenelle whispered, through her teeth.  Audre's hands dropped from her dress. 

She hated herself for getting all worked up about seeing her ex and his Amazon fiancée.  She tried to get into the spirit of things.  100 Black Men had gone all out for their annual Gala.  The large ballroom was set up like a casino with poker tables, craps, roulette and people there were dressed to the nines - all name brand of course. 

"Okay we're officially on Operation No Thug Love. What do you think, anyone with potential?"  Jenelle interrupted Audre's thoughts as she grabbed two glass of champagne off the tray of the waiter that walked by and handed one to Audre. 

"That guy over there is cute."  Audre said giving the eyeing a distinguished looking guy across the floor. She shifted gears into matchmaker mode.  Jenelle wrinkled up her nose.

"I don't like the way he walks."

"What's wrong with his walk, he has a powerful walk."

"He walks like he has a stick up his ass."

"He's still cute though."

"Nah I'll pass."

"Oh, what about that guy?"

"He has an S curl, so no."

"Maybe he just has wavy hair."

"Oh please, look at how juicy it is, he probably has to wear a shower cap at night.  Someone was a little TOO into Ginuwine back in the day if you know what I'm saying.  Pass."  Jenelle rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her drink.

"Hmmmm, check out black Clark Kent at 2 o'clock."  He was tall, well built; cute, neatly put together with eyeglasses even from across the room he projected a distinct air of confidence. 

"Too accountant-y."

"Look at his walk that is definitely a ball player's swagger.  No S-curl.  Nicely cut tux.  Ooh and he's been checking you out."

"He's still too accountant-y" 

"Do you think he's cute?"

"Well yeah, he's cute. . .in an accountant-y sort of way." 

Audre sighed, she grabbed Jenelle by the arm, dragging her across the floor, towards Clark Kent. 

"What are you doing?"  Jenelle hissed.

"Behave."  Audre whispered back, forcing her to come along.  They ran up against Clark Kent and stopped with lady-like smiles. "Hi, my name's Audre and you are?"  Audre asked the man smiling widely as she extended her hand. A little surprised at their abrupt arrival he returned the friendly smile.

"Maurice."  He responded taking her outstretched hand.

"Hi Maurice.  Are you an accountant?" 

"No."

"Are you here with a date?" 

"Stop."  Jenelle glared at Audre but she ignored her.

"No I'm not."  Maurice replied.

"Do you find my friend attractive?"  She said gesturing towards Jenelle.  Maurice's eyes moved over to Jenelle. A genuine smile spread across his face. He had pretty teeth and deep brown eyes. 

"Very."

"Great.  Maurice this is Jenelle.  Jenelle, meet Maurice."  The two shook hands slowly as they looked at each other. It was a job well done. Audre could feel that there was a spark of natural chemistry. 

"Maurice, could you keep her company, I have to make a quick phone call and I don't want her to get lonely while I'm gone.  Thanks."  Audre turned on her heel before Jenelle could stop her leaving the two laughing awkwardly.  She figured they'd bond over the discomfort of the situation.  She headed over to the bar and set up shop with her glass of champagne, seeing if her matchmaking efforts had worked. 

Within minutes Jenelle was in full flirt mode, leaning in, talking, laughing, and Maurice was eating it up with a spoon.  Mission Accomplished. Maybe this night won't be so terrible after all.

"Audre, Audre is that you?" 

She froze at the familiar deep voice behind her.  Every muscle in her tensed, she plastered on her "everything's fine really" smile and turned to face her treacherous ex.  Greg was standing there, looking way better than he had a right to. His tux was perfect, Armani, he never wore anything else.

"Hi Greg."  She said leaning in giving him a fake friendly hug.

"You look great Audre."  He said smiling.

"Thanks, so do you." 

Asshole.

"You here by yourself?" 

"Jenelle asked me to come, my boyfriend couldn't make it."

Ha, I've moved on so take that!

He nodded.  "I assume you're here with Cassandra?"  Audre continued.

"Yeah, she's at our table, I just came to get drinks."

"I'll let you get to that then."  Audre said, trying to exit the conversation.  She heard him quickly order a Courvoisier XO and a Pinot Noir.

"Wait."  He said, putting his hand on her arm. "How are you doing, what's been going on?"

"Same thing as always, work, life."  Audre said, trying to end the conversation as quick and painlessly as possible. " What about you?"  She added, not wanting to be too rude.

"I just got a promotion. I'm a Senior Investment Manager now."

"Good for you." 

"So you're dating someone now.  Anyone I would know?"  

Hell no.  

"Probably not, different social circle." 

"Maybe I know his family?"

"His family isn't from Chicago."

"What does he do?"

"He's in business." 

"Well I'm sure I probably know him then.  You know the brothers have to try to stick together it's a small world."

"How's the wedding planning going?"  Audre didn't want to get into the whole he's not exactly a brother conversation.  However as soon as the question left her mouth she instantly regretted it.  Lame transition and apparently I'm a glutton for punishment.

"It's going. . .it's fine, busy.  Did you see the pictures from Lisa and Wes' wedding?"   He said quickly changing the subject; she wondered if it was for her benefit or his own.

"Yeah they came out gorgeous.  Lisa looked beautiful."

"She did."  He said.  They stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment.  "Audre, before we started dating we were friends, I miss that, how you were always in my corner.  I hope we can be friends again." 

Mofo are you crazy?

"Of course."

"Honey, there you are I was looking all over for you."  Cassandra slinked over, all 8 feet of her, stuffed into a low-cut sexy white dress that made Audre feel like a nun.  "Audre, how lovely it is to see you again."  Cassandra said to her, her eyes giving her the once over. 

Lying bitch.

"Likewise." 

I'm such a lying bitch. 

"How are things over that law firm you're at what. . .was the name again?" 

Translation: your firm is so unimportant I can't even bother to remember to know the name of it.

"Billington, Cohen and Associates."

"Oh that's right, it's one of those small firms isn't it?" 

"Mid-sized."

"They must be working you hard over there." Audre heard the message loud and clear. Apparently the bags under her eyes didn't go unnoticed.  

"You must pretty tired too, with the way Goldman's stock has been plummeting."  

Take that heifer.

"We're managing alright, fortunately we made sure our interests were protected.  Cute dress by the way, so demure and simple, I thought about wearing something similar but when I tried this dress on Greg insisted that this was the one. I could barely manage to get him out of the house."  Cassandra said, taking a sip from her wine glass smiling like a cat.

Audre jerked forward. The sudden movement knocked the glass of red wine out of Cassandra's hand, splashing the ruby-red contents all over her beautiful white dress. A brutal dark burgundy stain was now front and center. Impossible to remove. She gave a smirk.  Cassandra gasped in horror, several others looked over. All eyes on the ruined designer rag.

"I can't believe you did that you bitch!"

"Oops sorry, it was an accident."  Audre said smiling then sauntered away leaving Cassandra frantically trying to get rid of her devilment.

"Cassandra I'm sure Audre doesn't want to hear about all that."  Greg said cutting through the playback of her revenge fantasy.  She looked over in disappointment seeing that Cassandra's dress was still intact. Any action at this point would prove to be childish.

"You're right I don't. Would you two excuse me please."  Audre stepped around them, looking for Jenelle. 

"Hey where did you wonder off to?"  Jenelle asked looking up as Audre came over.

"I ran into Greg and Cassandra." 

"What?  Ugh, I'm sorry if I had known I would've tracked you down."

"Its okay, it's fine actually.  Not nearly as bad as it could've been."

"Are you sure?"  Jenelle asked stepping away from Maurice and grabbing Audre's elbow.  "Do I need to fuck someone up?"

"No definitely not.  I'm good.  I promise."

"Okay well Maurice and I were on our way over to try our luck on the craps table."

"Oooh, you haven't ditched him yet, I see."

"Yeah, he's alright."  Jenelle said noncommittally, Audre could see through the bullshit but decided not to call her out about it.

"I've gotta run to the bathroom, I'll meet you over there."  Audre said. 

She went to the bathroom and washed up. She then started rummaging in her purse pulling out her red lipstick.  She heard the sound of a toilet flushing behind her and Cassandra came out of the stall.  She stood at sink right next to her, washing her hands.  Audre rolled her eyes trying to ignore the witch.

"Audre."  Cassandra said in greeting.  Audre's eyes met Cassandra's in the mirror.

"Cassandra."  She responded.  Cassandra began to apply her lipstick.

"I have to say that it's great we can be so adult about this.  I mean clearly, this won't be the last time we'll be running into each other and well, it's just nice that we can both be this mature." 

Audre put her lipstick back in her bag and turned to face Cassandra.

"Can I ask you a question?"  

Cassandra paused.

"I guess." 

Audre's back straightened, every nerve in her brain fired off the warning flash to avoid the question, but she went on.

"Did you start sleeping with Greg before or after he and I broke up?" 

Cassandra sighed and turned to look at her.

"What you have to understand Audre is that Greg and I had a connection long before he met you, we have a very. . .complicated history.  I had no idea when I came here that I would see him again or that those old feelings would still be there."

"See that's not what I asked you.  So let me ask it another way, did you and Greg fuck while we were living together?"

 Cassandra arched one eyebrow in challenge.

"Yes."  Audre gasped, caught off guard.  She knew she shouldn't have been.  But damn it she was.  "I'm sorry Audre but it is what it is.  Face it, Greg and I. . .we just fit together. " 

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means he's Morehouse and I'm Spelman, he's an Alpha and I'm an AKA, I'm a legacy member of LINKS do you get what I'm saying?"

"Not really."

"You're cute girl and I can tell you come from a family that's done quite well for themselves.  But it's not just about money, it's a different class level Audre.  Greg needs a woman who gets him on all levels.  Our partnership is equal.  I wouldn't expect you to understand that though."

Whoop that trick.  Whoop that trick.  The devil on her shoulder chanted. No Audre, you're better than that.  The angel on her other shoulder countered.

"You know, I've just stood here and wasted,"  Audre looked at her watch.  "Almost 5 minutes of my life listening to you drone on about who you are and your so called class level.  But the way I see it, ‘class' isn't the word that comes to mind when I think about the type of woman that would that would knowingly throw herself at a man that belongs to someone else.  And for the record, I am glad not to be a part of any organization that would have someone like you as a member."

"Well good for you because you aren't and you never will be.   And also for the record, if Greg really belonged to you, he wouldn't have been so easy to take."

Audre could feel the sting of tears welling in her eyes a mixture of sadness and anger over the ultimate betrayal soured her gut. Still, there was no way in hell she was going to give the bitch the satisfaction of breaking down in front of her, forcing her tears back where they came from, and steeling herself as much as possible. Instead of dignifying that with a response, she snapped her purse shut and turned on her heel, heading back into the Gala with her head held high. 

As she wandered through the Gala, she heard murmurs of people going on about their esteemed professions and accomplishments, their latest material acquisitions, their next summer vacation. The air of black bourgeois haughtiness was almost stifling.  This should've been Audre's element, normally she loved events like this and all it's accompanying pretentiousness but now it felt different.  Fake.  It felt fake.  Or maybe she felt fake.   Like she didn't belong, like she didn't want to belong.  Did I ever really want to be a part of this?  She looked around for Jenelle and finally heard her friend's voice through the crowd.

 "C'mon seven, mama needs a pair of metallic peep toe Christian Louboutin's" Jenelle rolled the dice at the craps table.

"SEVEN!"  The dealer called out.  The whole table erupted in cheers.  Jenelle had rolled six straight passes and the chips were piling up.  Despite her sour mood, Audre couldn't help but smile at her friend, the rational accountant, rolling passes like a born again hustler.  This was the same rational accountant that had once declared the Lottery to be a voluntary tax on the dreams of the poor and the delusional. 

 Jenelle was surrounded by a group of adoring men in tuxedos, their dates long forgotten and it wasn't hard to see why.  She had on a floor length gold dress with a deep v neck and spaghetti straps, her hair loose around her face.  But even in jeans and a tee shirt, Jenelle exuded this natural aura of power and confidence that Audre admired and envied especially at that moment.  She never had a desire to be a part of that superficial world and yet despite that or maybe because of it, she seemed to effortlessly blend in.

"Here blow on this honey."  Jenelle said flipping her hair over her shoulder and smiling seductively at Maurice, who eagerly obliged her request.  Though Jenelle had said that he wasn't her type, at the moment she didn't really seem to care.  She rolled the dice again and the crowed roared again as she made another pass.  "You must be my lucky charm."  She said winking at her Clark Kent. 

Audre decided she didn't want to intrude on her fun and turned towards the bar.  She saw Greg with Cassandra draped over him, grinning triumphantly like the cat that swallowed the canary.  It was just too much, Audre turned blindly towards the coat check and prepared to haul ass out of dodge.

"Audre!"  Audre turned at Jenelle's voice behind her.  "Girl you gotta come get a piece of this action, that craps table is hot look at all these chips I got. . .what the hell happened?"  Jenelle's merry tone instantly changed when she saw Audre's face.  Audre attempted with a smile to cover her pain.

"You know, I have this killer migraine, I think I'm just gonna call it a night."

"Migraine, is that migraine 6'4 with a leaky-eyed bag attached to his hip?"  Jenelle said glaring at Greg at Cassandra.

"No. . .a little. .. look, it's not them it's me."  Audre said with a sigh.  "I had a long week and I'm just not in the mood to fake-the-funk you know?"  Jenelle shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay well, let me just cash these chips in and let's blow this popsicle stand."

"No you stay, you're having fun.  We took separate cars anyways."

"No, I'm not leaving you, it's my fault we came in the first place.  I should quit while I'm ahead anyways."

"What about that guy?"  Audre asked, gesturing to Maurice who was standing at the bar, though he was talking to someone else, his eyes kept drifting over to Jenelle.  Jenelle turned to look back at him, they locked eyes and he smiled at her. 

"Girl, he is fine, and he's totally not your type so that's a good thing.  Plus I saw that little Vanna Black hair throw thing you just did, you're totally feeling him."

"Yeah okay I admit it, I'm feeling him."  Jenelle said, smiling in spite of herself.  "But chicks before dicks, I don't care if we took separate cars, we came together, we leave together."

"Jenelle, if I messed up any opportunity for you to go out with someone who doesn't look like a part of Lil Wayne's entourage I would never forgive myself."  Jenelle frowned.

"I'm not that bad am I?"

"Didn't your last date end with you running out of club where gun shots were fired?"

"What's your point?"

"It's your lucky night, so cash in.  I'm fine I just need get out of here but I'm not going to throw myself off a building."  Jenelle looked at her uncertainly; Audre could tell she didn't want to let her leave by herself.

"Well maybe we can do brunch tomorrow at my place, crepes and an Ab Fab marathon?"  Audre smiled.

"I'll bring the Cava for the white sangrias." 

"Ok."  Audre hugged Jenelle.

"I'll call you in the early afternoon."  Audre got her car and started driving, she turned on her radio and cranked the music up loud hoping Missy Elliot could put her in a better mood. 

It didn't.  

By the time she got home she was like canned heat, ready to explode.  She took off her dress, discarding it on the floor and scrubbed her face clean before settling into sweats.  She paced the floor for awhile, then dug into her freezer for Ben and Jerry's ice cream. The pacing didn't end. She practically burned a path into the floor eating ice-cream, musing over the night.  She couldn't really explain why it hurt to hear the admission from Cassandra. She should've been over it by now.  Hell she had long suspected it to be the case so why did it still bother her? 

Because she hadn't been enough.  She had done everything she could to be everything Greg could possibly want or need.  She had compromised herself, become some creepy Stepford wife in training and at the end of the day none of it had mattered.  But she wasn't mad at Greg.  Actually, fuck that, she was definitely mad at Greg. But more importantly she was mad at herself. 

Mad that she had been so weak, that she had been so stupid, that she had allowed herself to get lost for a man, for some superficial world, instead of staying true to the girl that she was.  She changed who she was for a man.  And as much as she hated to admit it Cassandra was right, she had done all this for a man that she never really had in the first place.

"Owwww fuck!"  Audre yelped when her foot slammed into something solid on the floor.  She stumbled over the box and stared at it in anger.  It was the box that Christian had left for her. 

She set down her ice cream and opened the box staring at its contents.  She pulled out the paints looking at the colors. Rising, she scooped up her keys and went to her storage room to collect her easel and floor cloth.  She came back upstairs and covered the floor before setting up the easel and canvas.  She stared at the blank canvas, wanting to push all the feelings she had inside of her out and onto the canvas.  She started mixing up her paints, getting everything ready.  She didn't think, she didn't analyze, she didn't stop she just painted. 

It was like breaking a seal and she couldn't stop.

For hours she submerged into the world of canvas and paints. She let go of the ball that had been wound tightly inside of her and rode the wave of inspiration that she felt. Once done she stepped back from the canvas surveying her creation. She laughed. A warm goodhearted laugh. It had all come back so naturally as though it had never left and it felt freeing. 

Audre dove back into the painting, swirls of patterns and dark colors, reds, blacks, shades of grays swirling together like a storm on canvas.

Free.  In that moment, Audre felt free.

When she came up for air and glanced at her clock, it was a little after 3 in the morning. Her eyes were almost crossing over, her fingers ached from the cramped positioning of holding the brush, and it felt great, natural even! She decided to stop for the night, she went to bathroom to wash her hands, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.  She was slightly disheveled, hair haphazardly pulled back, clothes covered in paint splatters. But her face was relaxed, serene even.  She showered then changed into her pajamas. Adrenaline rushing through her veins, sleep wouldn't easily come.  Audre went to her office and sat down to check her email: more stuff from her boss, an update from Lisa. Then the unexpected, a blinking icon indicating a personal message had arrived.

ZENARCHIST: What are you doing up at this hour. . .I hope like hell you aren't working?

Audre smiled at the message. It was Christian.

BLK_LILY: No!  

ZENARCHIST: You just get in from that thing you had to go to?

BLK_LILY: Actually I was painting.

ZENARCHIST: YOU'RE PAINTING?!

BLK_LILY: YES :P

ZENARCHIST: That's fucking awesome!

BLK_LILY: I know it feels good.

ZENARCHIST: Is that my painting?

BLK_LILY: Not this one, this one's for me. But the next one is for you I promise.

ZENARCHIST: Good.

BLK_LILY: What's your excuse for being up at this hour? Out with your friends?

ZENARCHIST: Yeah, I closed up the shop late, me and some of the guys down at the shop stayed late to tattoo ‘HUG LIFE' on six dude's stomachs for some stupid fraternity hazing thing.

BLK_LILY: ‘THUG LIFE'?

ZENARCHIST: No.  ‘HUG LIFE'.  I think the first time in my life where I thought I'm too old for this shit.

Audre laughed.

BLK_LILY: That sounds pretty terrible.

ZENARCHIST: Had to get a drink after that crap. Home now but still a bit wired.

BLK_LILY: Are you drunk?

ZENARCHIST: No, I'm a big boy, I can hold my liquor. . .unlike others.

BLK_LILY: Haha NOT funny!

ZENARCHIST: Sorry, couldn't resist.  How's it feel to be painting again?

BLK_LILY: Good. . .great. . .fucking fantastic! Thank you for my paints.

ZENARCHIST: I'm glad you're using them.

BLK_LILY: Me too.

ZENARCHIST: So. . .well, I was thinking, that if you weren't going out of town next weekend, we would've been going on our third date.

BLK_LILY: That's right it would've been. . .so what would we have done?

ZENARCHIST: Well since I picked the restaurant for our first/non date and we hung out with my friends for our second date, I want to know what would you consider to be a perfect date?

BLK_LILY: I don't know it could be anything, dinner, a nice concert, maybe dancing.

ZENARCHIST: I don't dance in public.

BLK_LILY: You don't dance?

ZENARCHIST: Do I look like I dance to you?

BLK_LILY: Well I think there's nothing sexier than a guy comfortable enough in himself to dance in public.

ZENARCHIST: Trust me, there's not one damn thing sexy about me dancing. In fact my dancing has been known to sanitize all thoughts of sexiness.

BLK_LILY:  LOL! Well maybe I'll get you on a dance floor.

ZENARCHIST: You've got about the same chance of getting me on a dance floor as I've got of getting you on a mountain.

Audre laughed.

BLK_LILY:  Touché.

ZENARCHIST: But I like the idea of a concert and dinner, what else?

Maybe sex in my tattoo chair?

She clapped her hand over her mouth.

BLK_LILY:  Oh God, I was hoping you forgot about that whole conversation.

ZENARCHIST: Definitely not.

BLK_LILY:  You must think I'm some sort of freak.

ZENARCHIST: Well that would be a good thing right, since according to Jenelle white boys are freaky and last time I checked I was white.

BLK_LILY:  So is it just a stereotype? You never answered the first time I asked.

Audre asked feeling bold.

ZENARCHIST: What are you asking?  If you're asking if that's just a stereotype lol, I haven't had the experience to know but I would say probably yes.  If you're asking whether I'm a freak- that's an entirely different question.

BLK_LILY:  Are you?

ZENARCHIST: Only one way to find out. . .

BLK_LILY:  Well. . .if this was our third date and we were at your place. . .or my place. . .what would you do with me?

Audre bit her lip waiting for his response. She stared at the blinking icon, breathe hitched in her throat. Seems like the seconds ticked on for eternity as she waited for the next message. Then the phone started buzzing, which she answered immediately.

"Christian?"

"Hey. I wanted to hear your voice." He said, his voice deep but soft. "I'm lying on my couch, where are you right now?" 

Audre stood up from her desk moving to her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Sitting on my bed."

"So if you were here with me right now, what would you want me to do to you Audre?"   

"I. . .I don't know. . ."  She whispered, suddenly feeling shy, losing the nerve. Being naughty behind her moniker was one thing. Talking to a man that sounded as sexy as Christian right now, was quite another. She crossed her legs to still the heat and moisture building between.

"Don't do that.  Don't stop doing what you know we're about to do." He whispered. 

"It's just, I've never done anything like this before, you know. . .being so verbal. It um....it's not me."

"Tell me what you want, what you like? C'mon Audre, it's just me sweetheart."

 She bit her lip. The thumping of her heart began to increase, she felt her core coil tight with tension. Was the heat on? Suddenly it was getting hot in her room.

"I like. . .kissing you," She finally admitted.

"Um, I like kissing you too.  If you were here with me I would definitely be kissing you right now.  I love your lips." 

Audre closed her eyes, to his final words. She imagined Christian there with her, kissing her slowly and thoroughly. Tongue probing, darting in and out, his distinct fragrance of citrus and spice aftershave and soap flooding her senses. 

"I wouldn't stop at just you're lips though." He cut in, and she exhaled, wanting him to go on. "No sweetheart, not just the lips. I'd want to kiss that beautiful neck of yours, that sweet smelling skin, I'd want to know if you smell that good all over. Talk to me Audre, tell me how want you want it. I have to know."

She cleared her throat. Her hand dropped to the bed and she gripped the bedsheet, the heat stirring in her, was like a wildfire. Just from his voice and the words coming out of his mouth,"I want to see what you look like underneath your clothes.  I want you to take off my clothes, ending with my..."  Her voice trailed off and she blushed.

"Ending with what...c'mon baby, talk to me."

"Um..." she sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slow. "Um...ending with my pan-pa-panties..."'

He gave a deep chuckle, not to mock, but more of a satisfaction, "Yeah, we'll get there...." He whispered. "What else..."

"I want you to run your hands all over my body."

"Can I touch you there..." his voice now smooth a velvet whispered through.

"Wha-where..." she stammered.

"Anywhere I choose. Over those thighs, those curves, the slender dip in the middle of your back that goes low, can I?"

Audre moistened her lips. She gripped the sheet tighter, rubbing her legs together.  Imagining what his strong, callused hands would feel like running up her body. "Ah....yeah."

She heard his smile through the phone. She couldn't believe it, but you can actually hear a man smile.

"I love the way that your skin feels, so soft, so smooth."  He said, he laughed.  "You know, when we first met and I was doing your tattoo on your hip, it took everything I had to stop myself from getting hard."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was reciting baseball statistics, the national anthem, anything else I could think of." 

Audre laughed. The pressure at her center eased. There was nothing sordid about what they were doing, God she loved the liberation she felt with him. Growing bolder she licked her lips and went for it.

"Well. . .are you hard right now?"

"Fuck yeah, rock hard." He grunted.

"Good."  She heard him moan softly and the sound of rustling in the background as he adjusted himself on the couch, unzipping his pants.  Her eyes popped open, "What are you doing right now?"  She asked.

"I'm imagining what you would look like, right now, if I had you under me, with no clothes on."  His voice dropped another octave and the desire pouring through the line was like a stroke to her weeping sex, moistening the seat of her panty.  "Audre I need you to do something for me."

"What do you want me to do?" 

"I want you to put speaker phone on, then I want you to touch it for me."   

She hesitated, trying to will her impending embarrassment away, she had never masturbated in front of anyone before.  Even though he wasn't there, it felt like he was. 

"Come on baby; don't get shy on me now. Touch it for me, please."  He whispered back as if he was indeed there seeing the panic and indecision in her eyes.

She moved back in her bed and switched to speaker phone.  When she got settled in she began to trail her fingers over the cotton of her underwear, she sharply inhaled, she was already sensitive and tingly, she ran her hand over her labia, pressing her thighs together as she ground her hips against her bed, increasing the sensation. 

"Are you touching yourself?'  He asked.

"Yes.  Are you?"  She heard his breath deepen in response.

"Yes."  Christian breathed, and she envisioned his hand slowly pump his dick, he closed his eyes seeing her in front of him, touching herself. 

"Are you still wearing your panties?" he whispered again.

"Yes."

"Take them off.  Take everything off."  He commanded, she immediately, complied her shyness falling away with each garment she tossed. Knees bent, head resting on her pillow, she resumed the naughty deed.  "How does that feel?"  The palm of her hand pressed against her clit.

"It feels good."  She panted, in a soft breathless voice.   

"Good.  Now spread those beautiful long legs for me, let me see how wet that pussy is.  I bet it smells good.  I wish I was there to taste it. Get inside it, damn Audre...the things you do to me."

Her mouth parted as she did it, opening the sensitive folds to her center, exposing herself to know one. "I-I-I..wish you could taste it too, it's really wet."  She said as her knees parted wider.

"Is it wet just for me?"

"All for you Christian." 

He moaned.

"Damn Audre, I wanna fuck you so bad right now."  He said, his hand massaging in dick in long strokes.  "I wish I could see you cum. I wanna make that pussy quiver, get in deep and never go home...."

"I wish I could see you too," she said rotating her hips, plunging one then two fingers in, gasping in between words "I wish I could feel your dick inside of me."

"Use your fingers,"

"...I am..."

"...fuck yourself..."

"....okay...."

"...fuck yourself good for me." 

Audre groaned louder, her pussy dripping as she inserted two fingers again, driving them in and out of her as her other hand alternating between rubbing each nipple. 

"That's it baby, I can hear how wet you."  He said listening to the sloppy sounds of her moving her fingers in and out of her slit.  "How many fingers do you have in that pussy?"

"Two."

"Add another one for me."  She opened her thighs wider and pushed another finger in working it in and out.  She cried out as she increased the speed, pushing her fingers in up to her knuckles.  They could both hear the sounds of each of them breathing as they mingled together syncing up.  Both of them had their eyes squeezed shut, each imagining that the other was right there next to them.

"That's good, that's so good Audre.  I swear you going to make me cum so fucking hard.  Where's your other hand?"

"Pla-playing with my nipples." She wheezed.

"I bet you look so beautiful right now, I wish I could look into those pretty eyes of yours."

"Stroke it harder for me Christian, I want to hear you cum for me too."  She said.

"I'm stroking it Audre."  He said as his fist pounded faster up and down his dick, the tip leaking with pre-cum, everything so vivid for her even though she wasn't there watching. 

"Can you get another finger in there for me baby?  I need you to get it hot and ready for me."  He asked.

"Yes."  She said, squeezing in another finger, she was so close to cuming now it was almost painful.

"You're about to cum aren't you, I can tell."

"Yes."  She said as she moved her other hand to her clit, rubbing it hard.  Her head thrashed around on the pillow. She could feel the onslaught of her impending orgasm.  Christian rushed to catch up with her, his hand quickly and smoothing running over the head of his dick the sounds of her driving him crazy. 

"Cum with me Christian. . .FUCK. . ."  She said as her moaning got louder, she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming out. She didn't want to wake her neighbors. 

Christian grunted, hard in the phone to the sounds of her pushing herself to climax, the sounds bringing on his own orgasm crashing over the edge.  They spurred each other on to mutual ecstasy, each one whispering the other's name. 

Audre shook uncontrollably as she came harder than she had in. . .well maybe ever.  They both were silent for a moment other than their haggard breathing.  Audre ran her a shaky finger through her hair, her pony tail loose from the thrashing around.  She felt like she was radiant and giddy, she started laughing.

"Oh my god, that was so fucking good." She said exhaling slow.

"Uh huh."  Was the only thing Christian could manage.

 They both lay there for a while neither in a rush to hang up or feeling the need to fill the silence with meaningless conversation. 

"The sun is coming up."  Christian said after a while.  Audre turned to look out the window, the orange glow peaking through. 

"I can't believe we stayed up all night.  I can't remember the last time I stayed up all night and it didn't involve work."

"Well we should enjoy it.  Watch it with me."  He said. 

She got up from the bed and walked over to tall window, wrapping her blanket around her.  She heard him moving around settling onto his balcony she could hear the sounds of the city.  She felt as though she was right there next to him and they were seeing the exact same thing at that moment. 

She looked at the beautiful colors blending together in an indescribable way announcing the dawning of a brand new day.  And it felt like a whole new day in every way imaginable.

Mattie Pearl Delaney Highsmith

Abram Highsmith Sr.

Adrienne Highsmith

Dottie Jo Delaney Johnston

Audre stared at herself in her rearview mirror, dabbing on more lip gloss.  She gazed at her reflection, studying it. There wasn't a hair out of place. Her skin flawless, radiant. She was enjoying the low maintenance makeup regimen.  Audre picked a small piece of lint off her black sheath dress and settled her Jackie-O shades over her eyes before stepping out of the rental car.

Her arrival was a few hours earlier than expected. Meetings she had planned for the day got canceled so she took an earlier flight. But instead of heading towards the house to see her mom, she decided to take a detour instead.  She pulled up in front of a sign that read Davis, Highsmith & Associates.  She breezed through the glass doors, glad to take quick refuge in the air conditioned building, escaping the blistering sun of the day.  As she got on the elevator and headed up to the top floor, she thought about the weekend that lay ahead of her, she was sure that her mom would have her running around like crazy in the short span of time she was home. 

"Hi Mrs. Soloman."  Audre smiled warmly at the silver haired lady sitting at the front desk.

"Audre!" Her surprise arrival added shine to the woman's eyes and polish to her cheeks. She immediately stood and came around her desk, pulling Audre into a gut busting hug.  She had been her dad's secretary for the last 20 years. Thanks to her help the modest two person law firm her dad founded with his best friend flourished into one of the most prominent small sized firms in the state.  In high school, Audre would spend her afternoons ‘working' alongside Mrs. Soloman to earn extra money. She loved listening to Agnes Soloman's animated musings about everything from politics to books to her church knitting circle.

"How are you Mrs. Soloman?"

"Holding up the world as usual.  Your father's been talking about you all day, so excited little tiger lily is back in town.  He's always perkier than normal when he knows you're coming." 

To this Audre beamed, she had always been an unrepentant daddy's girl and his ‘tiger lily'.

"Oh, I brought you something." Audre said reaching in her bag.  Mrs. Soloman immediately perked up at the mystery.

"You didn't."  She gasped.  Audre produced a box of Frango chocolate mints, they were Mrs. Soloman's favorites and Audre always brought her box whenever she was in town.

"Of course I did." 

"Oh, you always were a sweet child."  Mrs. Soloman said pinching Audre's cheek affectionately.

"Only to you Mrs. Soloman, only to you."  Audre looked towards the back of the office at the closed door.  "Is my dad in a meeting?"

"Yeah right, they're avoiding me.  Go on back there dear."   Audre headed towards the back, stopping to greet people along the way.  She knocked at the door.

"Um. . .we're not to be disturbed."  Abram Highsmith's voice bellowed from the other side of the door.

"It's me daddy." 

A second later the door opened Bobby Davis stood on the other side smiling sheepishly. 

"Hey Uncle Bobby!"  She said as she reached up to hug her dad's best friend and her godfather-he warmly greeted her.  She moved over to her dad, who swept her into a bear hug.

"Hey baby."

"Hey daddy.  Playing with the golf putting set again I see." Audre eyes dropped to the rolling ball as it made its way into the little portable putty cup. A soft chuckle escaped her. 

"Everyone needs a break, Agnes is gonna run us into the damn ground."  Bobby replied. 

"Oh Robert, stop your bellyaching."  Mrs. Soloman said from behind Audre. "Come on out here so you can sign these documents, then after that we need to go over your schedule for next week, oh and I have a list of phone calls you need to make asap, and--"

"Can I spend some time with my goddaughter please?  Besides, it is possible to be too good at your job you know." 

"Audre will be in town all weekend, but come 5 o'clock, I'm gone and this needs to get done before I leave." 

Bobby rolled his eyes."It was nice seeing you for 20 seconds."  He mumbled as he followed Agnes to his office across the hall.  Audre and Abram laughed.

"So you came in early, and you came to my office?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Or you wanted to avoid being interrogated by your worrisome mother."

"Two birds, one stone."  Audre said slyly. They both sat.

"Your mom just worries about you Audre."

"Well she shouldn't, I happen to be doing pretty well for myself.  If the worst thing you can say about your kid is that she's 29 and single you should consider yourself lucky."

"It's not just the you being single thing.  It's you being so far away.  We worry about you, it's not like if something happens to you we can hop in the car and be there in a couple of hours.  And then you never call.  The first time you got a taste of freedom, you shot out that door and never came back."

"That's not true daddy, I'm here every Christmas--"

"For 3 days at the max, you're always gone before New Years Eve."

"I always have plans. I always call at midnight though."

"I know, it's about the only time we're guaranteed to hear from you."

"I call when I can, I'm just busy..."  Audre protested weakly.

"Yes...yes..I know, but 15 minutes out of your day to let us know you're still alive shouldn't be too much of a burden.  Your mom and Adrienne talk everyday and that girl is always on the go."  Audre just barely managed to stifle the urge to roll her eyes. 

"Is she here yet?"

"Yep they called me earlier; her and Mattie went to get pedicures."

"Oh, I assumed they would be at the house, mom didn't tell me that was the plan." 

"I think it was spur of the moment, you know how those two get when they're together."

"Yeah, I know."  Audre said staring out of the window.  Her phone beeped, indicating she had a new text message.  She retrieved it barely able to contain the smile on her face when she saw Christian's name pop up.  "Sorry daddy one second."

HEY YOU.  DID YOU MAKE IT SAFELY TO NC?

Her dad resumed practicing his putting game while Audre sent a message back to Christian.

YES I'M HERE, JUST TALKING WITH MY DAD.

OK, WON'T BOTHER YOU, ILL SEE YOU WHEN YOU GET BACK TO CHI

NOT A BOTHER!  SEE YOU NEXT WEEK :)  Did I really just type a smiley face?  Audre frowned.  She put her phone away.

"Sorry what were we just talking about?"  Abram arched a brow his eyes trained on the golf ball.

"Maybe what we should be talking about is who this new fellow you're seeing is and why you haven't told your mother." 

"New fellow?"

"Yeah, the one that just made your face light up like it used to whenever the Reading Rainbow theme song came on."

"Oh God, am I that obvious?"  Audre asked feeling thoroughly embarrassed.

"I know you better than any one in the world. . .even your mother. You like this guy huh?" 

"Yeah I do."  Audre admitted.  "I like him a lot actually.  He's smart, he's funny, he reminds me a little of you, but he reminds me a lot grandpa Delaney.  He even drives this really cool classic car that he restored himself.  It's weird because I never would've thought I'd like someone like him, I mean we seem so different on paper.  But I do daddy, it's like when I'm with him, something just clicks, I feel almost like I'm more myself than when I'm by myself.  And that was really cheesy wasn't it."  Abram looked up, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I don't think I ever heard you gush this much about that ex of yours like that."

"It's different."

"I know it is.  I guess what I'm curious about is why you haven't told your mom about Mr. Wonderful, especially since you know it would get her off your back if she knew you were seeing someone and happy.  So what the hell is wrong with him?" 

Audre took a deep breath.

"Well, he's white for one."

"You've dated a white guy before."

"And I have distinct memories of you saying he wasn't even allowed on our grass." 

Abram chuckled.

"Awe hell Audre times change, people change. Plus he smelled like patchouli and was wearing back out shoes."

"What?"

"He was wearing back out shoes; I don't trust any man that walks out the house wearing back out shoes, just not right no real man wears shit like that." 

Audre tried not to laugh.

"Well first of all daddy, they're called clogs.  And secondly what do back out shoes have to do with anything?"

"Clogs?" Abram said shaking his head in disgust.  "And that's what the hell I'm talking about men don't wear clogs.  Boots, gym shoes, wingtips but clogs, can't do that baby."

"Dad."

"Didn't he make you cry?" 

Audre thought back to her first college boyfriend, and the fight they had because she wasn't ready to have sex.

"Maybe."

"Patchouli smelling, back out shoe wearing bastard.  I didn't trust him for a second, he's probably off smoking dope as we speak."  Audre couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, possibly.  Probably."  Abram put his putter down and sat next to Audre, she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against him.  There was nothing quite like the comforting arms of a father.

"Audre, your mom and I just want you to be happy, if that happiness comes with a white boy well, maybe I won't love it.  But if he treats you right, knows how to take care of my tiger lily, and doesn't make me have to break my foot off in his ass, that's what's important."  He paused.  "Does he wear back out shoes?" 

Audre snorted. "No, not that I know of."  Abram nodded approvingly.

"Then yes, happiness.  That's all that matters."

"He may not exactly fit mom's vision of ‘upwardly mobile' though.  His parents aren't exactly members of Jack and Jill." 

"Audre, no one knows more than me how obsessed your mom can be about status, security, gainful employment, health benefits, stocks, bonds, retirement funds."

"Owning property."  Audre added.

"It's all important.  You know how poor I grew up, that I didn't know my father that we moved from place to place because my mom couldn't afford the rent.  When Mattie met me, I was some snot nosed kid who had nothing but a pocket full of dreams and ambitions.  My parents weren't members of Jack and Jill either.  But Mattie saw something in me, maybe the same thing you see in this young man and we fell in love. We had you all and I know for a fact that neither one of us would trade one moment of our lives together.  But we struggled. We struggled a lot and I understand why it is that Mattie doesn't want to see any of you all having to do the same thing.  Robbing Peter to pay Paul, swimming in debt, trying to make a dollar out 15 cent.  We went through all that, so you guys wouldn't have to.  She just wants what's best for you guys."

"I know daddy, you're right."

"Contrary to popular belief she isn't perfect, she's human like everyone else.  So cut her some slack okay?  And CALL home."

"I'll try to be more patient, and call home more."  He patted her shoulder.

"Good girl.  Now let's go, I promised Mattie I'd pick up some porterhouse steaks to throw on the grill tonight."

xxx

Flashback

The North Carolina late afternoon heat was sweltering by the time Audre got home, her clothing was stuck to her damp skin.   She self consciously pulled on her tight t-shirt (thanks to having gained "the freshman 15"- though in her case it was more like the freshman 17.5).  She had taco bell, middle of the night vending machine raids, and Fried Fish Fridays at the school cafeteria to thank for that. Her flat ironed hair was already starting to frizz up thanks to her recent decision to grow out her perm and go natural-the ends of her hair were too straight for her to rock a nice afro but the new growth was wildly resistant to any straightening method that didn't involve chemicals or a magic wand.  She glared hatefully at the sprinkle of zits on her forehead, before college her skin had been almost perfect.  She probably also had her afore mentioned eating habits and the stress of college to thank for her less than stellar complexion. 

You look a hot mess and you know it. . .

She brushed her hair back as much as she could before giving up the chore. She turned to stare at the stretch of road leading back to the highway.  If she hauled ass back to Sweet Briar she'd be back to her dorm room and could get the TV plugged in just in time to catch Dawson's Creek.  Audre's eyes travelled to the house nervously.  Was coming home for break supposed to be stressful?  Didn't matter, the dorms were officially closed for the summer and she had already turned in her room key, so any fantasies she had of fleeing the scene and going back to Sweet Briar were just that, fantasies.  She sighed dramatically and climbed out of her car grabbing her bags, just before she could get her key into the lock the knob turned and the door flew open, her dad standing on the other side staring sternly at her.

"Tiger lily, why are you lugging those heavy bags up here, you know I could've gotten those for you."  He said in his booming voice with a smile tugging at the end of his lips betraying his faux anger, she dropped the bags as he swept her up into his arms.

"Hey daddy.  It's only two bags you guys drove up and got everything last weekend."  She replied, smiling as she hugged him tightly. "How did you know I was outside the door, you must be psychic or something."

"I heard you pull up; I've been watching you sit in the driveway talking to yourself for the last 10 minutes." 

"I wasn't talking to myself. . ."  Audre said quickly, her dad looked at her skeptically.  "Well at least I didn't answer myself."  She added.

"That's a relief."  He said, biting back a laugh.  "I'll take your stuff up to your room, your mom and sister are in the kitchen."  He grabbed the bags with no effort and headed towards the stairs while Audre began to slowly move towards the kitchen.  She heard her mother and sister Adrienne laughing loudly and talking animatedly.

"Well you should definitely wear your hair up with the spaghetti straps on the dress, you're hair will just look gorgeous up."

"I know it would, wouldn't it?  But then again maybe I should wear it down, I've been growing it out forever and now that it's gotten down my back I want to show it off."

"Hmmm but it won't look right down when they put the tiara on after you win prom queen.  I think we should curl your hair and pile it on top of you head."   

"You're right, up would definitely look best with the tiara.  I just hope the tiara isn't too terribly ugly and cheap looking. Either way though I can work it."  Adrienne shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly while Audre stood in the doorway and used every ounce of will power she had to not roll her eyes and make a sarcastic comment.   

Adrienne and their mother had always had an exceptionally close relationship, mainly because they were so much alike, they walked alike, they talked alike, they even had the same hand gestures and facial expressions.  Audre couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy just thinking about it.  Audre had always been somewhat shy, plain, and bookish, whereas Mattie and Adrienne were outgoing, glamorous and social butterflies.  Audre was so different in fact, that more than once she had been asked (sometimes more subtly than others) if she was adopted. 

When Mattie looked up from the catfish she was frying and noticed Audre her eyes lit up.

"Audre baby, you're home."  She pulled Audre into a hug and kissed her lightly on each cheek, French style.

"Hey mama."  Audre said hugging her back.  She turned to Adrienne, the two sisters hugged, though it lacked the warmth she had with her parents.  "What's up little sister?"  Ever since Adrienne had hit the age of 13, they had had something of a combative relationship.

"Nothing, what's up with you?"  Adrienne responded as she chopped up vegetables.  Audre grabbed a bag of chips from the counter and dropped down on to a bar stool, watching the other two working in the kitchen.

"How were finals?"  Mattie asked.

"Fine, I'm pretty sure I aced feminist theory, statistics kind of kicked my butt but so I'm thinking I'll probably only end up with a B, but I definitely did well in Art History with Professor Dupree."

"Is that the Professor who is supervising your trip to Italy?"

"Yeah."  Audre popped another chip in her mouth.

"You could help with dinner ya know instead of sitting around crunching on chips."  Adrienne cut in, irritation in her voice.  She seemed to always get annoyed whenever the conversation turned to Audre's good grades or, most recently, her trip to Italy.

"I've just been driving for the last four hours, scratch that I drove for three hours and sat in traffic for one hour."

"So?"

"So, can I have a couple of minutes to relax before I have to be annoyed by your scrunched up face scowling at me?"

"Well I think it's fair since I have to be annoyed by those gross zits on your forehead."  Audre subconsciously raised a hand to her head, as her sister smirked triumphantly.

"HEY! You two, that's enough.  Adrienne, apologize to your sister right now."

"She started it."

 Mattie stopped what she was doing and put her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed.

"And I'm finishing it, you know we don't talk to each other like that in MY house."  Mattie turned to give them both the death stare and they knew that she was not playing.

"Sorry I said something about your zits."  Adrienne muttered, Audre rolled her eyes as she reached for another chip. 

"I accept your apology.  I'm sorry I said something about your scrunched up face." She replied before popping the chip in her mouth.  Her mom cleared her throat purposefully, Audre didn't have to look up to know what that meant, it was Mattiespeak for are you really going to eat those chips?  Audre didn't feel like acknowledging Mattiespeak.

"When do you fly out?"  Was all Mattie asked instead.

"Next Thursday."  Audre responded, barely able to keep the glee out of her voice.

"Next Thursday?  You're not even here a full week before you're gone for the summer?"  Her mother asked the disappointment clear in her voice.  Audre shrugged in response.  "Well are you going to stay here before school starts in the fall?"

"Probably not, part of my credits for doing this program is a major final project, I'll probably just stay on campus to work on it, and then school will be starting less than a week after we get back."

"Well we never get to see you Audre, it's like you couldn't wait to get away from your family."

"It's not like that mom. . ."  Audre protested weakly.  Except that it kind of was.  "This is an amazing opportunity you know, only 10 students were invited to participate in the entire College.  We're going to get to see the Sistine chapel, and we'll get to see the Last Supper.  In person.  Do you know how big that is?  Nobody's seen it for the last 21 years.  This is going to be the best trip ever."

"Yeah it sounds great honey."  Her mom said softly.  "I just was hoping that I'd get to see my daughter this summer, that's all.  I know this trip is going to be good for you, I'm happy for you."  Audre thought she saw a flash of sadness in her eyes but as soon as she saw it, it was gone.  "Maybe you'll go to Italy and develop some style." 

Adrienne burst out laughing but promptly stopped when she caught the serious look Mattie shot her.

"I didn't mean it in a derisive way."  Mattie said quickly.

"What's the matter with my style?"  Audre asked defensively looking down at her slightly too tight tee shirt, bamboo bracelets and gypsy skirt.

"I think the problem is you don't have a style."  Adrienne said, snickering.

"Shut up Adrienne."  Mattie interjected sharply.  "Audre I'd call your style. . ."

"Bohemian?"  Audre asked hopefully.

"No I wouldn't say Bohemian. . .more like. . .Mother Earth."  Mattie finished hastily.  Adrienne turned towards the refrigerator quickly, trying her best not to laugh. 

"Mother Earth?"

"Yes I think that says it."

"What does that mean?"

"Just kind of thrown together, Birkenstocks, boxy skirts, big, weird jewelry, you know. . .Mother Earth."  Audre couldn't shake the feeling that "Mother Earth" was a nice way of saying bag lady chic.

"I like my style, I think it's eclectic, I think it's me."

"Well it's definitely a bold choice."  Adrienne said, her voice dripping with barely concealed sarcasm.  "I mean in a way it's kind of chic. . . in a weird sort of way.  Like, now the 70s are back in fashion but you were dressing like that WAY before it became cool again, so you know, that's something."

"Audre, sweetie."  Mattie jumped in, attempting to stop the train before it completely derailed.  "It just sometimes seems like, you don't try very hard.  You're such a beautiful girl, beautiful eyes and amazing mouth."  Her mom said smiling wistfully at her.  "And you're so tall, you could practically be a model at least you don't slouch as much as you used to.   I just wish you would know these things about yourself and embrace it.  There's nothing wrong with being brilliant and dressing to impress to you know.  How are you going to find a man when you don't take time to groom yourself?" 

"Mom I was just coming home, sorry I didn't dress up to come home but I didn't think it was that big of a deal.  Besides I'm not like the two of you, I can't be bothered to spend hours primping in front of the mirror."    

"I'm not asking you to ‘primp' Audre.  You can do the little things, pull your hair back a little more neatly, iron your skirt."   Her mom said gesturing towards her outfit, her perfectly manicured fire engine red nails gleaming under the sky light. 

She knew her mom meant well.  But she also knew that mothers only tell their children they're beautiful because they have to.  The truth was that no one stopped her in the street to tell her how gorgeous she was, like people did with her mom.  Audre, unlike Adrienne, didn't know the feeling of dressing to match her prom tiara because, after all, who wouldn't vote for Adrienne as prom queen.  Audre reached for another chip, staring down at her clothes. It was a hell of a lot easier to ‘dress to impress' when you felt impressive, as opposed to bloated and unattractive which is what Audre was feeling at the moment.

"My skirt wasn't this wrinkled when before I drove up here."  She said finally. 

"Yeah well nothing wrong with wearing a shirt that fits either.  And for the record black is more slimming than neon."  Her sister said looking pointedly from her stomach to the bag of chips in Audre's hands.

Audre was pretty sure that secretly Adrienne was some sort of superhero.  But her power wasn't the ability to fly or travel faster than a speeding bullet.  No, her talent lies in her remarkable ability to hone in on whatever physical characteristic Audre happened to be feeling the most subconscious about that day and then needle her until she was a great big ball of raging insecurity.  Audre rolled up the bag of chips and set them back on the counter.

"I'm going to grab a quick shower."  She announced as she headed up stairs.  She took a relaxing hot shower staring down at her most offensive body parts, and attempted  in vain to scrub them away her- stomach pouch, her thick thighs, her elephant knees, her too big ass.  She swore to herself that she was going to shed those extra pounds she'd gained over the past year if it killed her.  When she got out of the shower, she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror for a long time, examining her forehead critically.  Audre tried to focus on all the things her mom pointed out, but her "amazing mouth" looked too wide to her, instead of seeing the beauty of her eyes she could only see the bags.

She wondered if there would ever come a day when underneath it all she wasn't just an insecure little girl fighting to measure up to some invisible standard.

xxx

"Mom you look amazing!"

"Yeah mom absolutely beautiful."

"Gorgeous Mattie Pearl, you know us Delaney girls can work the hell out of some red." 

Audre, Adrienne and their aunt Dottie Jo, gathered around Mattie, ooing and aahing as she turned in the mirror looking at her wedding dress from every angle.  It was a strapless ball gown with a fitted bodice and full skirt, the red satin material set off her beautiful skin and made it glow.

"I still can't believe you're wearing a red wedding dress mom."  Adrienne said.

"Well after this many years of marriage and three kids, I know I can't wear white and keep a straight face walking down the aisle."

I know that's right."  Dottie Jo said laughing. 

"In Asia many of the brides wear red wedding dresses for good luck and auspiciousness."  Audre added.

"Auspiciousness.  I like that Audre, not that we need it at this point."  Mattie turned to look at her two daughters.  "You two look so beautiful, my husband and I did some good work."  She said proudly.

They all turned and looked in the mirror, Audre, Adrienne and Dottie Jo were all wearing dark silver circle skirt knee length dresses, each with a different neckline that was most flatter to their figures.  They certainly were a striking family. 

"And Audre I can't get over how stunning you look, just so much more relaxed and happy," Dottie Jo said.  "Are you sure you don't have a man up there in Chicago that you're hiding form us?"

"I'm dating, but. . .nothing serious."  It was true.  Technically she and Christian weren't serious.  But part of her wondered why she still was holding back from telling them about him - if for no other reason than to shut her sister down.  She missed no opportunity to brag about her fiancé and their ongoing wedding plans.  Still despite the pep talk her dad gave her, she knew Mattie Peal Highsmith well enough to know that she wouldn't just welcome Christian and all his tattoos into the fold with open arms, no matter how well he treated her.

Audre looked over at Adrienne, who was turning and looking at herself from every angle and nodding approvingly.  She never seemed to have hit that awkward phase known as puberty; Adrienne went straight from being a cute kid to a gorgeous well manicured young woman.  Audre's transformation on the other hand had taken a little work and a lot of grooming, she gazed at herself in the mirror, she had come a long way from the self-doubting teenager she once was, though she still felt like a work in progress.  They went into the dressing rooms to change; her and Adrienne shared a large one.

"So you look good.  Have you been working out?"  Adrienne said, still eyeing her own physique, but watching out of the corner of her eye as Audre slipped out of her dress.

"Yeah I've been taking kickboxing and yoga." 

"Well it's working, whatever you're doing you should keep it up."

"Thanks."  Audre said smiling.  In the last few years her and Adrienne's relationship had gotten much better, they talked on the more regular basis, and they had outgrown petty bickering.  Still, there was always that undercurrent of competition between them, an incessant need to one up each other. 

Audre silently counted down in her head knowing it was only a matter of time until her sister found a way to move the conversation back towards herself, in 5. . .4. . .3. . .2. . .

"I should be working out more, just don't have time you know, between work, wedding planning, house hunting and spending quality time with Jason, I barely have time exercise.  Good thing gravity hasn't OH MY GOD."  Adrienne turned fully towards Audre with wide eyes, she jumped slightly out the unexpected yelp.  "What the hell is that?"  She demanded looking at Audre's hip in the mirror, Adrienne grabbed her waist and turned towards her looking in disbelief at the tattoo.  Audre, grimaced she completely forgot that it was there.

"It's a tattoo Adrienne.  And keep your voice down."

"Yeah I know what it is, what the hell is it doing on your body?"  She said in an exaggerated stage whisper.  She ran her finger across it, as though thinking if she rubbed it hard enough if would disappear from Audre's skin.

"I wanted a tattoo, so I got one, end of story."

"Mama's going to kill you when she finds out."  Adrienne said, her voice still louder than it needed to be.

"Yeah, well she's not going to find out from you.  Not unless you want her to find out from me that you and Jason have been living in sin for months."  Audre replied, her own voice raising in volume.  Adrienne quickly looked towards the top of the stall before lowering her voice to a real whisper.

"We're engaged."

"I'm sure she'll understand."  Audre said sarcastically. 

"Even if you tell her, moving in with the love of my life will be an indiscretion forgotten by our wedding day.  You on the other hand are going to be that old ass lady that has to look in the mirror when she's 70 and be reminded of some spur of the moment decision she made 40 something years ago when she was probably too drunk to know better."

"I wasn't drunk, I was completely sober."  Audre snapped.  "And as a matter of fact I'm already thinking of getting another one."

"Why would you want to mark up your skin like that?"  Adrienne's noise wrinkled up in disdain.  "It's so tacky."

"You sound just like mom."  Audre rolled her eyes.

"Well mom is right about a lot of stuff you know." 

"Well I happen to think it isn't tacky at all."  Audre turned towards the mirror, looking at the lily, since it had completely healed she had come to love it even more.  "I think it's beautiful." 

Adrienne looked at it.

"It is pretty."  She conceded.  "But it should be up on a wall not stamped on your ass."

"It's not on my ass it's on my hip."

"I know that smartass, you know mom's going to find out eventually and she's going to totally rip you a new one when she does."

"I'm grown so I can do whatever the hell I want to do."

"So then why are we whispering?"

"Because it's none of her business what I put on my body."  Audre replied, feeling a little bolder than she actually was.

"I don't know why I'm even surprised.  This is so totally a you thing to do."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You always march to the beat of your own drum; you've just always been weird that way."

"Are we still talking abut a silly tattoo?  Or do you have something you've been waiting twenty years to get off your chest?"

"You've always done whatever the hell you've wanted to do, no matter how fucking stupid it is or how much it hurts everyone else.  It's like you're in some perpetual state of secret rebellion or something." 

Audre almost laughed at the irony of being labeled the "rebel" of their model family, she could only imagine what Christian would say if heard their conversation.

"Well we can't all be little Mattie Pearl mini-me's like you Adrienne.  Maybe you're just upset because you didn't have the guts to be your own person." 

Adrienne rolled her eyes.

"You're so clueless."

"Then enlighten me."

"GIRLS!" Mattie called out cheerily, oblivious to the fight that had been unfolding on the other side of the dressing room door.  "We've got reservations for lunch at 12:30 so hurry up."  That signaled the abrupt end to the conversation, the two quickly got dressed and left, the tension and unsaid thoughts still hanging in air.

"So, I called your secretary and made sure your schedule was clear for the rest of the day."

"You what?"  Audre looked up from her blackberry and looked at Janelle in confusion; she was supposed to be working.  But her mind was already miles away, already thinking about her date with Christian. 

She hadn't seen him since before their phone sex interlude but they had talked to each other almost every day that week, each conversation growing increasingly intense. It had gone beyond cutesy flirting, it was alarming to Audre how much he had managed to infiltrate so many of her thoughts and emotions, too many. She wondered if maybe he felt the same way she did, she wasn't sure and that was scary. And then there was the added pressure of their next date. This was the big one, they were definitely going to close the deal which opened up a whole other Pandora's box worth of issues and anxieties. By the time Janelle marched into her office, Audre was already a tightly wound ball of nerves. She shut the door behind her to give them privacy.

"I know you Audre.  And I know for a fact that as we speak you are driving yourself crazy thinking about Christian and you're magical third date tomorrow, especially after you got all Girl 6 on him last week."

Audre rolled her eyes."I don't know why I tell you anything."

"Because I'm your BFF and I know when you're trying to hide stuff from me."

"So sad and yet so true." Audre said. "So why did you clear my schedule of BFF of mine."

"Because there's no way in hell you're getting any work done today, not when you're this uptight. In fact I bet right now you're googling sex tricks on your blackberry."

"I would never do something like that while I'm working. . ." 

Jenelle gave her a dubious look. "Maybe I looked up some stuff last night at home, so what?"

"So, stop over thinking this. I doubt sex has changed that much in the last 6 months since you broke up with Greg."

"I know that.  But it's not like I was doing rodeo tricks even back when I was with Greg. You know my vanilla sex history."

"True."

"I've just built up this whole thing in my head and I'm petrified the reality isn't going to live up to the fantasy."

"Don't worry about the fantasy. You and Christian like each other, every thing else will fall into place."

"I know. . .maybe," Audre got quiet, looking out of the window. "Can I tell you something?"  She bit her lip nervously.

"You can tell me anything, you know that."

"When I was with Greg, I would listen to you talking about your sex life and all could think was. . .damn I wish I knew what that felt like. I started to wonder if. . ."

"If what?"

"If sex was overrated, I mean I've made love and that was nice, with Greg it was good, I came. . .not all the time, but most of time.  But I've never had that mind blowing sex. The kind that makes your toes curl and you see those stars that people talk about. But when I'm with Christian, all I have to do is hear his voice or he looks at me a certain way and I'm so turned on its ridiculous. But what if all that is, is the anticipation. What if when we do the deed it turns out that. . .it's not this huge thing I've built up in my head. I feel like I'm staring at a stereogram, and everyone else can see the optical illusion but me."

Jenelle looked at her as though she had just told her that her puppy had been run over by a train.

"Damn, the thought of that is just too depressing for words."

"Thanks, I've never felt better about baring my soul to anyone."  Jenelle laughed.

"Ah, sweetie.  Sex is not overrated, sex is beautiful, when it's done right, and it's everything you think it is and then some. Sex is," Jenelle tried to think of the right description. "Sex is a gift from God."

"Nah, its proof that God wants us to procreate."

"No, bleeding every month for half our life is proof that God wants us to procreate.  Sex is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy, otherwise he wouldn't have invented condoms."    

"That is so sacrilegious."  Audre shook her head.

"Forget all that." She waved it off with a smirk, "You just need a little help seeing the 3d picture in the stereogram and I think Christian is more than up for the job. You just need to relax, let go and let it flow and mama Jen is here to help." Jenelle pulled out a business card and set it in front of Audre. 

"What's this?"

"I made you two appointments for this afternoon.  First you are going to get a mango mandarin honey sugar body scrub so you can get your glow on, my girl Katie will hook you up, total bronze goddess status." 

Audre had to admit that sounded wonderful. "Okay, I like it so far.  And then what?"

"Then you'll meet Olga."

"Who is Olga?"

"Hair remover extraordinaire."   Audre arched one brow, she knew Jenelle was referring to south of the border hair removal. Audre had never gotten a bikini wax and the thought of it made her cringe.

"I think I can handle my own personal grooming."

"I know you're a waxing virgin.  But trust me, by the time Olga gets done you'll be addicted."

"I'm not interested in looking like a 12 year old child, Jenelle there isn't anything sexy about that."

"I already told her to give you the Playgirl.  You won't look prepubescent I promise, Olga will take very good care of you.  By the way there's no point in arguing about this, it's already paid for."

"Well I guess you've got everything figured out, next you'll be telling me what to wear."

"Your peach mini dress with the three quarter length sleeves."

"Do I have any say in this?"

"I trust you to accessorize appropriately."

"Gee thanks."

"If I were you though, I'd go with the gold strappy sandals. . .but that's just if I were you."  Jenelle looked at her watch. "You've got 20 minutes before your first appointment so you better go." Jenelle hustled Audre out of the door.  "Don't forget, I know when you're lying so if my super-spidey sense indicates you're even thinking about wearing a pants suit or anything in black, I will kick your ass." 

"No black, no pants suit I promise."

"Good." Audre smiled at her best friend.

"Thanks mama Jenn." 

"Thank me by getting buck-wild freaky tonight.  You might want to stay away from the handcuffs though; you're not ready for that yet.  Baby steps."

"Yes ma'am."

"By the way, you owe me lunch and details, maybe even some pictures." 

xxx

Audre stood in front of the mirror admiring Katie and Olga's handiwork.  The body scrub had been wonderful and she had to agree about the bronzed goddess status, her skin had a healthy shimmer and felt like silk even 24 hours later.  Her experience with Olga on the other hand had been borderline traumatizing.  The Russian woman had waxed places not even her gynecologist or past partners had ever seen before.  Hell she hadn't even seen them before.  The only hair left was a small landing strip.  Olga had assured her that waxing wouldn't hurt as much next time as it did the first time around.  But the pain of having hair ripped out of orifices that had never seen the light of day had been enough to make her contemplate almost knocking the hell out of Olga.  Fortunately it was over relatively quickly and she definitely couldn't argue with the results. 

Looking at herself in the mirror, she had never felt sexier.  By the time she got dressed she definitely had to give it to Jenelle, the date preparation was on point.  The peach dress fit her perfectly and set off the golden undertones of her skin.  Still, she couldn't help the niggling doubts creeping into her thoughts.  Audre felt her body starting to tense up.

What if he noticed the troubling stretch marks she had just discovered on her thighs?

What if she didn't have enough tricks in her arsenal?

What if she had forgotten how to do it? 

What if he didn't know how to do it? 

What if she just wasn't meant to see the stereogram?

She eyed the bottle of Brandy on her bar and against her better judgment took a shot.  Or two.  By the time Christian rang her doorbell a little while later she was starting to feel warm all over.  She grabbed her purse and jean jacket and headed downstairs.  Audre opened the door and their eyes met. His mouth gaped as his eyes moved from her hair, hanging in lose waves, down to her pedicured toes and the continued to peruse her.

"Damn, you look beautiful." He said in a sensual tone that had her heart hammering in her ears. Audre blushed, then smiled. At the base of her throat a pulse beat and swelled as though her heart had risen from its usual place. The look in his eye, the sly smile to his lips, combined she was hit with a wave of the desire he had for her. She cleared her throat and put herself in check before she spoke.

"You too.  I mean, not beautiful. Guys don't like to be told they look beautiful I guess. But you do." 

She was rambling. But he did.  The blue of his dress shirt brought out his beautiful eyes. Normally they were a Nordic blue, but there was nothing icy about them in that moment.  Instead they were almost as dark as sapphires, intense and full of a fire. They impaled her, a delightful shiver of wanting ran through her. He took a step and her heart lurched once more as his face drew closer and closer, then he captured her lips with a kiss. Not a soft gentle, teasing kiss, it was a possessive kiss. His lips were oddly soft and caressing but his tongue was masterful in the ways it darted in and out of her mouth dueling with her own. There was no pretense, she was his and Christian made it clear that he was there to stake his claim.  His hands gripped her waist, drawing her up against his hard frame.  His moist, firm mouth demanded more and more and she capitulated to the ravishment. Her jacket and purse dropped her hands, they rose with a slight tremble rose and went to his neck then her fingers spread into his hair, gripping.  He pushed her into the doorway, kicking the door closed behind him.

She was shocked by her own eager response that came so naturally as they tumbled onto the staircase, still kissing each other, struggling hands clawing at each other's bodies through the burden of their clothing.  He pulled her hair back and kissed the hollow of the base of her throat, along her jaw line, sucking her earlobe. She creamed at the heady sensation of his travelling kisses. He hiked up her skirt, pushing it all the way to her waist, getting in between her thighs, his hands grabbing her ass as they moaned into each other's mouths.  They had both been waiting so long for this moment. 

Was she really naughty enough to get fucked on the stairs of her building? 

Yes, at that moment she definitely could be.

She felt him trying to pull away, slow things down. But she didn't want to slow down, she wanted this. She definitely wanted this. Clutching to his shirt holding him down and moving underneath him, she wrapped her legs around his waist locking him between her thighs. Feeling the bulge in his pants knowing he wanted the same.

"Don't stop."  Came out in two breathless pants, blood pounded her brain, and made her thighs and ass tremble when he ground his hardness into her. She ran her hands down the hard planes of his back, and she continued to move against him, her hips swiveling, her pussy hot with an electric heat. He shifted, wanting her to feel exactly how much he craved her. She tensed at the unseen thickness buried behind his zipper; his fingers pushed aside the wet seat of her panty just to run over the silky lips of her vagina before removing his hands. It was as if he had to touch it to know it lay there beneath waiting for full exploration.  She immediately noticed and loved the dramatic increase in sensitivity she felt down below thanks her ‘playgirl' haircut.

"Mmm...baby..." he said running his tongue over her full lips working his ass feeling her wet heat soak through his jeans. "Damn...." He hissed as it got it good to him. Audre closed her eyes, increasing her pace, exerting her control over him. His hands went to the back of her thighs to unlock them and force them wider apart so he could rub against the bundle of nerves buried so deep that it set her teeth to chattering.

"Fuck, Audre the things you do to me baby."  Christian grunted out each word in her ear as he gave into their phantom fuck, riding the edge, she could tell he wanted to hit it so bad. He set a rhythm that had their bodies moving in synch. Her back ached from the stair as he got more intense, she winced spiraling down in a mixture of pleasure and sweet pain. His head lifted and her eyes opened as he pumped in and out of her. Their eyes met. They stared into each other's eyes as if in silent challenge would this happen? Now? Or later? The combined gyrations had them nearing reckless abandon, where anyone could find them. She didn't care. She needed him so much in that moment.  She hadn't needed anyone in this way. She continued rocking her pussy against his clothed rock hard dick, he felt massive. He felt amazing. The friction through her thin panties was fantastic and it wasn't long before she could feel herself hurdling towards her first orgasm of the night.  Her body tensed her moans louder.  Before she could scream out her release he shoved his tongue in her mouth and they kissed each other so hard, so desperate it was almost painful. Her body shook, her nails clawing at the shirt on his back as she came hard.  They laid there for a moment, both gathering their faculties.

"Yeah, so this is not exactly how things went down when I planned it out in my head."  Audre said finally her lips curved in a smile.  Christian shook his head laughing.

"Me either."  He said finally.  "So far, it's better." She giggled.

"Yeah, yeah it is."  He looked down at her. 

"You hungry?"

"Famished."

"You want to try to make it for our reservation?"

"No."

"Good."

xxx

l5 minutes later they sat at Audre's dinning room table, eating Christian's patented grilled cheese and tomato sandwich and drinking red wine. They talked very little.  They had talked enough.  Instead they just mainly observed each other. His hand kept running up the length of her leg, as though he couldn't get enough of the feel of her soft skin.  She definitely owed Jen.  His hand moved across the material of her short dress.

"Did I mention I really like this dress?"

"A few times."

"It's very nice."

"Just the dress?"

"Everything."  He leaned in to kiss her.  "I love everything about you."  He whispered.

"You haven't seen everything."  She said teasingly.  He smiled slyly. 

"You're right."  He stood suddenly and a grabbed her, unceremoniously throwing her over his shoulder. She screamed in surprise as he headed towards the back of her apartment. 

"Bedroom?"

"Last door on the left." She said laughing as he charged towards her bedroom. He set her down on the floor.  He pulled at the hem of her dress.

"Take this off."  He commanded.  She quickly disposed of the dress she hadn't worn a bra; she stood there only in shear panties and heels. He pushed her back onto the bed, grabbing the heel of her foot as he stood over her.  His eyes never left hers as he unbuckled her sandal, kissing the instep of her foot. He removed the other sandal the same way. He spread her legs, still looking down at her in what could only be described as wonderment, his hands moving up the side of her leg slowly, towards her center. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

Christian caressed her thighs, his nimble fingers teasing. They were playful and melodic, after what seemed like forever, he brushed her center and she arched her back, pushing her pelvis forward, practically begging his fingers to enter into her.  But he took his time, fondling her lower lips, through her panties, building up her sensitivity to the point of frenzy. She lay panting, her chest heaving as his finger play sent a zing of sensations through her pussy pooling at her core. He showed no mercy, though she was incinerating inside for him. He made a circular motion around her pussy, kissing her stomach. 

Then he slowed to soft stroking as his eyes focused in on something. She looked down and saw he was staring at the lily tattooed on her hip, smiling, looking at the perfect combination of their artistic efforts.  She wondered if he saw it as though it was his mark on her body, in that moment she certainly felt as if it was.  While one hand continued stroking her pussy, the other gave a sensual trace to the outline of their tattoo.

"Perfect."  He whispered more to himself than her. He leaned in, his finger now rotating her quivering budding clit as his tongue grazed over following the designed path around her lily the same course his finger had taken earlier.  The combined sensation sent her to gasping, her mouth now forming the perfect shape of O. She groaned, her back arching even deeper.

"Christian, please."  She whimpered, not sure of what she was begging for, but knew she needed some sort of relief, her body shivered. He responded immediately by moving aside the material of her panty to ease his thick finger in one joint at a time, making sensual circles inside her vagina.  He leaned up and took his time down below unhurriedly slipping his finger into her until he was knuckle deep, stopping and playing some more, learning her body like an eager student, watching her face lovingly and kissing her gently on the forehead while he eased his finger in and out of her, he added another finger gradually increasing the pressure. It was too much, her nipples hardened and her pussy clenched. He held his fingers inside slowly applying a delicious pressure to the roof of her dripping wet pussy.  He increased the rhythm and as his fingers pumped leisurely inside of her, while he used his thumb to rub her clitoris. 

He bent down and licked around the clit, inhaling her scent in a way that felt and looked so damn erotic it had to be wicked. He brought her to the edge of an orgasm before pulling away, kissing around her thighs.  The measured teasing heightened all of her senses in a way she had never experienced before.  He separated the outer lips with his fingers and laid his tongue flat against the opening of her vagina, a long, slow, wet lick from her slit to her clit.  She started bucking against him but he wrapped his hands around her thighs, forcing them apart as he pinned her down all in a continual effort to posses her for this delicious exploration.  He looked up at her, memorizing every line of her pleasure etched on her face.  His eyes seemed to laugh at her, taking a perverse pleasure in owning her body so completely. He brought her to another orgasm.  It was not as violent as the first one; this one was understated but even more powerful, sending waves all over her body as he drank her juices. Then he slid up against her fondling her achy breasts and delivering a kiss filled with her essence that was sinful, deliciously obscene.

"Fuck you taste so good." He said easing down to flick his tongue at her nipple and admire it dark full erectness. "Every bit of you."  He suckled one then the other, drawing out the seduction further. Torture is what it was. He actually hummed with them in his mouth, his lids fluttering shut. She thought she knew what it felt like to be desired.  She realized that she had had no idea what if meant to be truly desired, not until that moment.

He released one with a plop flicked his tongue at once more then flipped her over onto her stomach. She smiled at the masterful way he handled her. He began kissing the back of her knees, thighs, giving a slow roll of his tongue over her ass, then up to small of her back. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter when he began to lick up the center of her spine. The decadence left a curious swooping pulling at her innards from the longing for his lovemaking. It was as if he worshipped every part of her. The very air around her seemed electrified. He covered her, his body warmth hovering, he kissed her neck, rubbing himself against her ass, he was still dressed.

"Christian. . ."  She breathed out again.

"Yes Audre."  He responded as he nibbled lightly on her earlobe.

"I need to see you.  I need to taste you."  She turned back over and kissed him, her fingers fumbling on his belt buckle while he quickly unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it away. When they had removed every stitch of his clothing, she flipped him over kissing down the length of his body. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw his long, hard dick, standing proudly at attention. He was huge, larger than she thought, bigger than she had ever seen in person. 

There went that myth.

She pumped her fist over his long shaft and lightly kissed and licked his dick. His hand stroked her hair lovingly as he looked down at her, his breathing shallow. She gave him one long lick up the seam, then made a seal around the shaft with her mouth like a vacuum, and sucked him like a Hoover.  Her mouth explored him, the head of his cock hitting the roof of her mouth, her fingernails lightly ran across his shaft, balls and perineum. Their eyes locked and seeing the way that he looked at her as though it was a struggle to restrain himself, she finally understood what it felt like to have the kind of sexual power that Jenelle exuded. She liked it. She loved it actually.  She took him as far into her mouth as she could jerking the bottom of his shaft off with one hand while the other massaged his balls.  He lightly, but persistently pushed her away. She tried to resist but he was firm.

"I want to cum inside you."  He said as he pulled her up. He looked over in frustration at his pants which had been tossed halfway across the room.

"Nightstand."  She said.  He smiled gratefully and reached over, retrieving a condom from her nightstand drawer. 

They kissed each other, their hands moving up and down their bodies.  She took the condom out of his hand, and removed it from the package, sheathing him. She angled herself over his cock then eased herself on to it a little bit at a time, stretching gloriously as every beautiful inch of him filled her. It was a pleasurable agony for both of them.  They both sighed in relief as she settled into his lap, rocking back and forth against him, and he sat upright so they were wrapped up in each other's arms.  She arched her back and her breasts undulated up into his face, which he immediately devoured. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, the heels of her feet digging into his back as they continued their slow rock. But soon his passion required more. He grabbed her ass and aided her in a bounce that was shattering her to the core. He gently bit her shoulder, running his teeth along her sensitive, damp skin. When she found the pace he released her and she gave him the ride that had her coming up and down on his dick with powerful strikes. Christian gently grabbed the back of hair, forcing her to stare into his eyes. 

"Audre"  He moaned looking directly at her.  She had never heard her name said so reverentially.  He held her hostage in his eyes, those beautiful eyes. They watched each other, listening to sounds their breathing and synchronized heart beats. He now took hold of her firm thighs parting them and thrusting up to hit a spot she didn't know exist. Each time he did her pussy vibrated, she gasped, and nearly cried out. The hot sex she had been prepared for, but the deeper connection was almost more than she could handle.  She had never known that feeling of being so thoroughly lost in someone until that moment. His hip thrust and hers with her so open for him almost made her manic. He was so damn compelling, his magnetism and loving so potent, she understood a junkie's addiction after the first hit. He was fucking her and loving her all at once and for Audre she never knew it possible.

The deep connecting of her souls in that moment took her soaring. He released her thighs and fell back on the pillow it hit him so hard. She could tell. It was her turn to show her what being her man meant. She dropped a hand to his pelvis and the other behind her on his muscle tight thigh and began to ride him harder. Her hip action swift and precise she had him now arching and gripping the sheets.

She showed no mercy. Their breathing grew more haggard. Their cries and moans intermingled with one other as he threw that ass up and she worked her ass down, harder and harder.  They held onto each for dear life as they reached their peak. The pleasure was pure and explosive. She would desperately need more of than this. The real world spun and careened on its axis and she gasped giving him full throttle. A current of ecstasy shocked through their bodies like bolts of lightening.  They didn't have two separate orgasms but one joint combustible one. She gasped her head dipping back further her nails digging into his flesh. Where they should be merely filling a moment of physical desire this orgasm this orgasm cut her down to the bone, through her soul.

Rattled, satiated, and completely his. 

This was all she knew as she collapsed on him breathing hard, almost afraid her heart would not slow to manageable beat.  

They stayed that way for a while, not wanting to leave the comfort of each other.  A surprisingly peaceful feeling came over Audre all remained defenses effectively weakened. Her lids fluttered shut and she drifted off to sleep having discovered something she never knew had been missing.

She was finally home.