Rapture (11 page)

~
10
~

Alika

By Saturday, I had been at Chaos every night, which meant that I had been in Rush’s presence
every
night
. I threw him constant hints. At least I thought they were hints. I wanted him to realize that I had acted impulsively and that I wanted a do-over. But he wasn’t biting at all! I mean, I was always touching on the man’s arm in some shape, form, or fashion. Whether we were laughing, or simply talking, I found a way to establish some sort of physical contact. I made subtle comments about things, sometimes in subliminal ways. I thought for sure we’d prelude to a kiss…or beyond. But none of it, and I mean
none of it
baited him. He probably perceived me as a major tease because of what happened between us, and he would be well within his rights to do so, if that were the case. But then again, he should also know that I was just being extra careful. Right?
Hell no. Who am I kidding
? I had my tongue all down that man’s throat and my arms snaked all the way around his neck like I was down for whatever, and then retreated like a damn coward! I ruined a perfect moment. A moment that was so natural nothing should have interfered with it. And now here I was reduced to having one-sided ass conversations about missed opportunities and how to reel them back in. My brain was about to implode.

Okay, Alika! Snap out of it! It’s Sunday! Up and at
‘
em
!

But I was really only in the mood for lounging. Last night was fun, and getting to hang around an eager and extra hyper crowd gave me renewed life! All the pool tables were occupied, there were small and large groups of people throughout, and even the lounge was filled to capacity. I now understood why it was that Rush spent so much of his time there. The downside of it all was bearing witness to the many women who approached Rush for conversation. They were like the united nations of groupies. He flashed more smiles than I cared to see, and it made me so jealous that I saw red, black and blue! But I had already convinced myself that I was okay as long as he didn’t take any of them home.
But
…whenever we got back, we always went our separate ways, so it was highly probable that a skank or two
had
found their way back.

Ugh
!

Nevertheless, I had to say that Chaos was everything. The energy was good, and healthy vibes came from everyone, especially Nikki, the bartender. I got the chance to chat her up while we were sharing duties at the bar. She seemed like a cool chick. I thought at first she would be major territorial about her mixing space. I used to be that way about anybody attempting to get front and center with me, but Nikki was chill, and gave me free range. Although things were cool between us and we seemed to have the kind of instant chemistry that friendships are made of, I decided to keep my distance for the time being. I felt that telling anyone at Chaos or Temptation that I was living with the boss might ruffle some feathers and get me the side eye. Rush was something like a heartthrob, eye candy, if you will, and I suspected hearts might shatter, while imaginations ran wild of things they
thought
we did. Shit, my own imagination ran wild at the idea of it! It was why the urge to pleasure myself had taken on a life of its damn own. Never in my life had I ever been that girl that felt the need to touch herself, but I guess what I needed was a muse—Rush was that. He had flooded my mind so damn aggressively, that I didn’t know what to do.

Get up, Alika
!
No time to become a serial masturbator
!

I sat up and threw the covers to the side, cold turkey. Because had I not, I would’ve been in the bed all day wrapped in the same tired ass thoughts. I needed to go ahead and face facts: I’d run Rush off, and that ship had already sailed. In due time, particularly, since I was re-entering the club scene, I’d be able to at least have a ‘play date’. I smiled at the possibility, but then thought about how awkward it would be to bring a man onto the premises for sex, while Rush was nearby.
Hmmm
, that might not fly. Think of another one, Ali—

“Knock, knock, knock!”

Suddenly, Gigi’s familiar voice invaded my brainstorm, from
inside
the house…again. She was in, and already headed my way. I rolled my eyes and smacked my lips.
Really, Gigi
?! Instinctively, I wanted to tell her that waiting for permission to enter would be nice, but I reeled in the bubbling urge to do so. The first time she did it wasn’t such a big deal. It was intrusive, but not such a big deal because I was just a visitor. But this time, it was feeling more like my home, my personal space, that she was barging into.

“Wait, Gigi!” I yelled out to her. “I have company back here and we’re not dressed!”

“Girl, please!” she exclaimed, cheerfully breezing in. “I just left the house and Hunter was
there
, soooo…”

Immediately, at the mention of his name, I began blushing. But that was my cue to turn away from her so that not a single piece of evidence would show up to embarrass me—in my eyes, my smile, wherever. I was avoiding it at all costs. I began to fluff the sheets and make the bed. “Morning to you too, Gigi,” I said, with a light chuckle. “So nice to see you again.”

Gigi began to cackle from the doorway. “Alika…turn around and look at me,” she requested. “I wanna see your eyes.”

“For what, girl?”

“Just turn around.”

When I did, she cut her laughter to stare at me. I put my hand on my hip, with slight attitude, shifted my feet, and gave her a smirk. “What?”

She looked me up and down, giving the sass right back to me, and placed her hand on her own hip as well. “Let your guard down for a minute. It’s okay. Really. I know you like him. You didn’t even flinch when I said that Hunter was at home. And that was me implying that you couldn’t have company
here
if the person who could be your company was
not here
.”

“I don’t know what you mean, Gigi.”

“
Girl
! Like hell you don’t!”

“No. I really don’t,” I lied, returning my attention to the task of making the bed.

“Alika.”

“What…?”

“Stop what you’re doing and look at me,” she requested. “I’m telling you that it’s okay.”

I did as she said and relaxed my stance when I realized it was no longer needed. I plopped down onto the bed, and surrendered to Gigi’s truth. “What do mean ‘it’s okay’?”

“You don’t have to act like there’s
nothing
there, with me, when I know that there is.
That’s
what I mean when I say, ‘it’s okay’.”

“You don’t think that I’m just having some type of feelings for him because he kinda saved me?” I asked, demonstrating with air quotes. “I mean, because he did…save me.”

“That might be a part of it, but the other part is that you see he’s genuinely a good guy. Not to mention he’s
muy, muy, muy caliente
. There is no denying that. What girl doesn’t want that? A man who can save her when she needs to be saved? Who’s a good person, and who is as beautiful as they come? If you can show me a girl who
doesn’t
want all that, I’ll gladly show you a fool.”

“Ooh, girl. So what, you came to bring the lesson of the day, huh?”

We laughed in unison, before she responded. “No, that was a total fluke! I came to see if you wanted to do some more shopping since I was headed out to Gilroy to raid the outlet stores. Do you have anything to do?”

“Nope, not at all. I was just gonna lounge around and—”

“Think about Hunter!”

“Stop it, Gigi!” I giggled, getting off the bed to grab something quick to wear. “You’re something else.”

“So I’ve been told. Oh!” she yelled out, prompting me to turn around in her direction. “Next time I’ll knock and wait for you to let me in,” she smiled, placing her key on the nightstand, then walking into the living room to wait for me to get dressed.

Before Gigi and I left for shopping, I stopped off to check in and speak to Rush. I wanted to see what he was doing, to let him know that I was taking off with Gigi for a while, and to thank him once again for everything. But he seemed preoccupied with something. I wondered if it had to do with what I told him about Bart. He hadn’t mentioned it to me again, and Bart had been around as though everything was normal, so maybe not. I didn’t know, but I knew his mind was somewhere else. I didn’t know his every emotion, but I could tell that he was removed from the calm and collected individual that he was the majority of the time. He wished us a happy shopping trip, and went back into his office to do whatever it was he was doing before we came in.

“He’s just inundated with the details for Temptation’s opening,” Gigi said, once we were in the car. She saw the look of worry on my face. What she said made sense too. “The list of administrative items I’ve had to handle is super long! So, just imagine how much of that Hunter has to do. Not to mention he’s a perfectionist and a control freak!”

~*~*~

After we were done shopping, Gigi and I stopped at Red Robin’s for burgers and fries. I actually didn’t like eating out too much, but that was because I loved cooking. However, when I did eat out it needed to be somewhere that I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. Red Robin was that place. In Vegas, Tracie and I would sometimes go. Of all the burger joints, I knew that Red Robin would bring it in flawless fashion. And since I was feeling good, I decided to have a Bahama Mama to wash the goodness down with. It was tasty, but I made mine better, if I did say so myself. Some of these places were too by the book with their mixtures, and I loved experimenting with liqueurs to produce new flavors.

“Yumm…this is sooo tasty…” I said, taking a long sip of my drink. Unfortunately, since Gigi was driving, she couldn’t drink and I made sure to tease her with every sip.

“That’s okay, girl. I’m totally unbothered. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your slurping will never hurt me,” she laughed. “Why? Because when I get home, my baby is taking me out for drinks, so sip away.”

I smacked my lips at her. “Whatever.”

“Aww, is she mad that she couldn’t make me mad?”

“Anyway. Your baby, huh? How long have you and your baby been together?”

“Marco and I have been together for two years.”

“Nice.”

“And get this…we dated for six weeks before we got married!”

“Really?” I responded, stunned.

“Yep. I loved that man from the moment I saw him on our blind date.”

“Blind date!” I exclaimed, excitedly.

“Yep. One that I wasn’t even gonna show up for at first,” she acknowledged, dipping her fry into ketchup before slipping it into her mouth. “I was rebelling against my sister because she had been sticking her nose into my business with men since I could remember. So, I was gonna stand him up at first, but then thought about how I wouldn’t want something like that done to me. And
girrrrl
, as soon as I sat down, we locked eyes and
I
swear
, it was instant.”

My hand was underneath my chin atop the table while I listened intently, to Gigi’s fairytale play out. I honestly never believed in all that love at first sight stuff, but I guess it can’t be any different than having some type of strong attraction for a man I’d only known for four days, and counting. Clearly there are times in life where the mind and body conspire to force you outside the norm. And try as we may, there’s no stopping their collaborative efforts.

“That’s so beautiful, Gigi. I’m jealous. I mean, not really, but kinda sorta,” I laughed.

“You’ll get yours. I don’t know all the details of why/how you ended up with Hunter, but it had to be pretty traumatic for you to not have had anything with you…clothes, money, any of that stuff,” she pried.

“I have money,” I corrected. “Just not a lot of it. But you’re right that it was something pretty traumatic.”

For the next twenty minutes, I gave Gigi the condensed version of what had happened with Curtis and how I ended up having to basically escape to save my own life. When I was done, she surprised me. I thought for sure it would be the end of us hanging out, that she would be turned off by all of it, and maybe even pass harsh judgment, but she didn’t. All she said was, “If that piece of garbage is the reason that you won’t give in to your feelings for Hunter, then you need to do whatever you have to do to get that shit out of your system—and quick. You’re allowing him to hold power over you, if you don’t. And if he was worth that, you would’ve run to him and not away from him.”

“You got a point. And I definitely ran from his ass.”

“And right into Hunter. Think about that…”

“Oh, I think about it. A lot,” I finally confessed. “But at the same time, I’m not sure about any of this. There’s some things in the way, you know?”

“Nothing’s in your way, Alika. You’re the one in your own way.”

“I don’t know, Gigi.”