Pink & Patent Leather (10 page)

It wasn
’t that I expected him to run over to me, but I was surprised that he stayed in place and didn’t come any closer.

“
I wanted to speak with you. Alone this time,” I added, acknowledging that my prayer had been answered. Sister Stroman was nowhere in sight.

His eyes did that up and down thing again, but this time, he didn
’t even bother to meet my eyes when he finished. He paused right at my cleavage. I stood straighter so that he’d have an eyeful.

“
You shouldn’t be here,” he said, sounding like his mouth was full of gravel. “How did you get in?”

To me, that was a dumb question, and I never answered dumb questions, no matter who was doing the asking. So instead of speaking, I just moved toward Malik until I stood right in front of him.

I had to crank my neck all the way back because without my signature stilettos, I was five, maybe six inches shorter than he was. I liked that. My father was that much taller than my mother.

I lifted my hand slowly and when Malik didn
’t move, I gently pressed my palm against the side of his face.

“
I think you already know this, Malik,” I whispered, “but, I’ve been in love with you since I was sixteen. Since you placed that ring on my finger.” And then, I added, “And this has nothing to do with an infatuation. I’m a grown woman and I know what I feel.”

He stood there,
looking so deeply into my eyes, it felt like he was staring straight into my soul. My heart began to pump as if it was making its way out of my chest. This was it. I knew what was going to come next—he was going to accept this, he was going to lean over and seal our fate with a kiss.

When he bent toward me, I closed my eyes and parted my lips to receive him. But then, he grabbed my hand, and my eyes snapped open. Though his touch was gentle, his words were not.

“We’re not going to do this, Sister Pink,” he said almost in a growl, before he let go of me and strolled to his desk.

I had to blink a couple of times. There was so much wrong with this picture. Turning around, I watched as he settled into the chair where I
’d just sat.

“
What you’re feeling is not love,” Malik said with a sigh that felt so heavy. “You were young, and you still are.”

“
I’m not young anymore, Malik,” I said, placing my right hand on my hip. “I’m old enough to know.”

He blew out a couple of extra breaths. “
Well then, you have to know that this is never going to work. I would never be able to reciprocate any feelings. I’m a married man, I’m your pastor, I’m....”

“
You’re making excuses,” I said, stepping toward him. “Because none of that matters. Not if God really wants us to be together.”

He chuckled a little, making a sound that I didn
’t like. “How could God possibly want that, Sister Pink?” he asked. Again, he shook his head and the glimmer that I saw in his eyes before had flipped. Now, I saw just a bit of pity. “Sister Pink, you don’t love me and God didn’t tell you we were going to be together.”

Sister Pink! Sister Pink! Sister Pink!
Ugh! He sounded as steadfast as he did when he came by my condo. And I thought that he’d just said those things because he was there with his wife. Maybe it wasn’t her. Maybe he really believed the things that he was saying.

No! The devil was a lie. Satan was just trying to get in my head. I knew the voice of God as sure as I knew my own name.

Malik’s reaction just meant that I had to make a bold move. Something to show him, something to convince him.

I was right in front of him when the idea came to me. And, I did one of the things that I did best. I brought tears to my eyes and dropped my head into my hands. I sobbed and just like I knew Malik would do, he
jumped up.

“
Sister Pink...”

That was all he had a chance to say. I grabbed him in between his legs.

“Ah,” he moaned, not sounding at all like he was hurt. I squeezed the part that made him a man. “Ahhhhhhhh.” His moan was louder and longer this time.

He w
as as hard as a rock and I wondered just how long it had been since he’d been touched this way. He squirmed trying to release my hold on him, though I didn’t think he was trying all that hard. But I held onto him like my life depended on it. In a way, it did.

It was going to take more than just me holding him like this to show him that I was a woman. I had to make this man see and feel all that he would have once he surrendered and did what God wanted.

With my right hand, I squeezed him as hard as I could. With my left, I slipped the strap off my shoulder revealing my left breast. Really, I wanted to let my dress drop all the way so that Malik could see and appreciate all of me. But, I couldn’t release my grip. It seemed, though, like what I’d revealed was enough. Malik’s eyes bulged, though his face was still twisted in his sweet pain. I could’ve just blown on him and he would’ve toppled over. Instead, I gave him a little shove, and he fell back into his chair.

It was the lessons that Xavier had given me tha
t let me move so speedily, so accurately. It hardly took seconds for me to unbuckle, unzip and have his bare manhood in my hand. And just a second after that, he was in my mouth.

His hands were on my shoulders, pushing me away. But I didn
’t move. Or should I say that nothing on me moved, except for my mouth. Up and down. Down and up. And then, his hands that had been offering resistance, now were on the side of my head moving with me. Up and down. Down and up.

All kinds of mutters were coming out of his mo
uth, almost like he was speaking in tongues. I was sure that he was trying to say my name, but I couldn’t even enjoy this moment, this first time that we were united. This was a “job” to me, literally. I had to concentrate on making him feel good, making him see that all of this talk, all of this Sister Pink this and Sister Pink that, all of this resistance was pure foolishness.

I sucked in my cheeks, a move that was porn-star worthy. And it didn
’t take long before Malik’s groans filled the entire room. He was moaning like he didn’t care who heard him. Then, he shivered. For what seemed like an hour. But really, it was just seconds. And it was over.

When I looked up, he was still sitting back. His eyes closed, his breathing quick and shallow.

I slipped the strap of my dress back onto my shoulder, then grabbed a tissue from Malik’s desk. Moving quickly, I picked up my purse and stepped toward the door. It wasn’t until my hand was on the doorknob when he called out, “Sister Pink,” sounding like he had just run a marathon.

But, I didn
’t even turn around. Whether he wanted to say thank you, or ask when we would get together again, or tell me some more of that Sister Pink nonsense, I wasn’t going to stay around to listen. He’d have to come and find me.

And, after what I
’d just done to him, I knew that he would.

Stepping into the hallway, my first thought was that I couldn
’t believe how perfect God’s timing was. Right there, right in front of Malik’s office, I came face to face with Sister Stroman. Actually, God’s timing could have been just a bit better. Because if she had been here just a few minutes sooner…

I brushed my hair back off of my shoulder. Then, with the tissue that I still held in my hands, I dapped at the corner of my lips. I was sure th
at my lipstick was quite smudged—which was a very good thing at this moment. “Good evening, Sister Stroman,” I said, like she was one of my best friends.

Her mouth was too wide open for her to get a word out. In her eyes, I could see all of her thoughts an
d all of her questions.

Wearing victory, I walked down the hall and out of the church. There was no need for me to stay for Bible study. I
’d already received my message and I’d just delivered a message. No, I’d delivered two—to Malik and his soon-to-be ex wife.

My mind was on Malik
through the entire drive home. I remembered the way he tasted, the way he felt, and I especially remembered the way he moaned. He had moaned like he had never felt anything as good as my mouth.

Inside my condo, I
went about my business. I took off my dress, wishing once again, that I’d been able to do this in Malik’s office. Then, I stepped into the shower. Under the cool shower spray (I never took hot showers. The hot water dried and aged your skin) I closed my eyes and lingered in that feeling of victory. I was really thrilled that Malik had been so pleased.

After ten minutes, I dried myself off, moistened my skin, then wrapped myself in my silk robe. When I sat at my vanity and began brushing my hair with my nat
ural bristle brush, I stared at my reflection and admired the woman who looked back at me.

I
’d had so many lonely days and even more lonely nights as I kept myself for Malik and now, tears sprung to my eyes. Not because I was sad in any kind of way. It was just the opposite. This was finally the time, this was the place, he was the man.

I really didn
’t want to sit here and cry because really, I needed to be celebrating. I rose from the vanity and strolled, into the kitchen. A nice glass of Moscato was exactly what was called for. After filling up a flute, I strolled into the living room and grabbed a magazine. It was too early (just about nine) and I was too worked up (with all kinds of thoughts in my head) to go to bed. So I flipped through the magazine, checking out the competition. This was something I often did for work, though skimming through magazines and checking out the ads didn’t feel much like work to me.

I didn
’t look up again, until my cell phone rang. And when I glanced at the screen I was surprised that an hour had passed. But, I wasn’t surprised by who was calling. It was a little before ten now, and Bible study lasted two hours. So this call was right on time.

“
Hello, Pastor,” I said.

There was silence for a couple of seconds. Not that I co
uld blame Malik. The sound of my voice had probably brought back all kinds of memories. He was probably hard right now, just hearing me. It was a wonder that he was even able to carry on with Bible study. Or maybe he didn’t. Maybe Xavier had covered for him, and all he’d done was sit in his office and imagine being with me.

Finally, he said, “
Sister Pink.”

Really?
After the intimacy we just shared, he was still calling me Sister? He was really going to have to drop that. Unless we were role-playing or something.

“
Malik, if you don’t mind, I’d prefer that you call me Sasha. Just Sasha.”

“
Sasha.” He said my name so softly.  Then, I heard him clear his throat. “Sasha,” he began, “I have to apologize. For what happened.”

I frowned. “
You don’t have anything to be sorry for. You didn’t do anything.” I wanted to add that I’d done all the work, but I didn’t think that would help.

He said, “
Yes, I do have something to be sorry for, and yes, I did do something. Because I should’ve stopped you.”

“
Trust me,” I said. “There was nothing that you could’ve done to stop me.”

“
Well, something has happened that made you think, made you believe, that what happened, was right. It was so wrong, Sister Pink,” he said, slipping right back into that Sister thing again.

I flopped back onto the sofa.
Oh, my God!
I was gonna have to go through this with him again? Was he still going to resist what God was trying to put together?

He said, “
I wanted to share a scripture with you that came to mind after you left.”

Well,
that was one good thing—his mind stayed on me exactly the way I expected. Not that I thought he wouldn’t be thinking about me.

Malik said, “
The Bible teaches us that the flesh is weak, but it is the Spirit who makes us strong.”

“
Yes, I know that scripture very well, Malik,” I said, trying not to sound annoyed. But I really was. How many more mountains was I going to have to climb with him? Why was he putting up all this resistance? Didn’t he know that he would never win in a battle with God?

“
Our flesh was weak,” Malik continued to preach to me. “But I know that with prayer, we can build up our Spirit man to resist temptation. We need to get on our knees and pray, Sister Pink.”

Oh, lawd!

“We need to pray and not only ask God for forgiveness, but ask Him to lead us not into temptation and to deliver us from this evil.”

I rolled my eyes and said nothing.

Malik didn’t seem to notice. He was on a roll. He said, “Because Sister Pink, it was wrong. I’m a married man.”

That was when I had to jump in. Yes, he was mar
ried, but to the wrong woman. “I know you’re married, Malik. But at the same time, I know that tonight was meant to be.”