Smoldering Desire (7 page)

“Yeah, maybe,” she replied absent-mindedly.  She wiggled out of her friend’s embrace.  “See you tomorrow?”

“Sure will.”

They got into their vehicles, Violet’s a BMW and Althea’s a Volvo.  They drove off, going in separate directions.  “That asshole is cheating on me, and I’m going to catch him!” Violet vowed.

This Isn’t Barbie’s Dream House - $.99

Sawyer Longley, soon-to-be Sawyer Spector, looked up at her older sister Campbell.  “I can’t believe that Walt and I are finally getting married,” she said softly. 

“Yep, and I can’t wait until it’s all over with, you’re driving me crazy,” Campbell lovingly scolded, while she inspected her sister.  With her hair pulled back into a sleek chignon, her makeup impeccably applied, and her ivory, curve hugging, wedding dress, she was beautiful.  She reminded Campbell of the exquisite Barbie dolls that her sister enjoyed playing with when they were little.  Sawyer loved Barbie so much that she had started a collection, so far over two hundred dolls filled her house.  “You weren’t quite a Bridezilla, but you did work my nerves.  And lucky you, today is going to be a perfect day for a wedding.  There’s nothing more beautiful than a May day in Savannah.”

They were in the corner of what Sawyer had nicknamed the
Holding Pen
, the room that the church had set aside for bridal parties to use before they took that long life-altering walk down the aisle.  Sawyer savored this alone time with her sister, she knew once she got married, their chances of continuing to spend a lot of time together would become as rare as a forty-five year-old woman winning
American Idol
. 

Her ten bridesmaids were clustered together on the other side of the room, chattering and laughing while putting on their finishing touches.  Sawyer chuckled at the image, she was finally having her fairytale wedding, the one she had been dreaming about ever since her mother had given her a wedding Barbie. 

Sawyer agreed with her sister.  Then, “I can’t wait until tonight,” she shyly admitted to her sister. 

“So you guys are finally going to do the do,” Campbell said.  “I don’t know how you held out so long, I would’ve gone crazy.”

“Trust me, I almost did, but fortunately I had Steele, if I hadn’t, I would’ve dumped Walt a long time ago,” she revealed and Campbell snickered.  As soon as she and Walt decided that they wanted to abstain from sex until they were married, Sawyer had immediately gone out and bought a ten-inch dildo that she had named Steele and had used on a frequent basis. 

While neither one was a virgin, Walt had a five-year-old daughter, Shelby.  And Sawyer had slept with more men than she could count, with most of those short-term relationships ending horribly.  She had found that as soon as they hit the sheets they either decided that things were moving too fast and they needed to slow things down, which really meant that they got what they wanted and was itching to leave or they just went MIA.  She was tired of both scenarios.  So she was more than willing to comply with his request.  Walt wasn’t like any man she had dated before, he treated her like a lady.

“I spent a ton of money at Victoria’s Secret.  I got so much lingerie that it’ll fill up a suitcase.  And I ordered some stuff off the Internet…some freaky stuff,” she whispered, not that she needed to since the chattering from the bridesmaids provided enough noise that hearing anybody that wasn’t within arm’s length was impossible.

Campbell chuckled.  “That’s a good idea, but I don’t think Walt will need all that.  All you have to do is show up and it’ll be a wrap.  Trust me I know.  I barely got dressed on my honeymoon, all I wore was a bathing suit and when it was time for dinner, I mean when we actually left the room, I threw on a sarong.” She smiled at the memory.

Just then their cousin Moesha chose to stroll over and Sawyer tensed, bracing herself for Moesha’s onslaught, she didn’t know what it would be, but she knew it would be something, and she was right.  “So you’re finally gonna get fucked tonight, huh girl?”

Sawyer gritted her teeth.  She had only asked Moesha to be in her wedding because their moms were each other’s favorite sister.  And she promised her mother that she’d include Moesha, no matter how uncouth she was.  “Yes, Walt and I are going to consummate our marriage, if that’s what you mean,” Sawyer answered.  She knew that her friends and relatives talked about her behind her back and she regretted the moment she had let them in on such an intimate matter of her relationship, but at the time it seemed like a good idea.

“Damn girl.  You don’t have to talk like you’re at work surrounded by a bunch of White people.” She gestured to the other people in the room.  “It’s just family.  You can say it, you’re gonna get fucked tonight, that is if you’re doing it right,” she said with a snicker. 

“Moesha Tamika Barnett watch your mouth!” Priscilla, Sawyer’s mother demanded and she shot her a grateful smile.  “This is a church and I will not have you disrespecting it with your potty mouth.”

“Aw Auntie I was just telling it like it is, we all know what she and Walt are going to be doing.”

Priscilla pressed her lips together and shook her head at her niece.  Moesha was twenty-five-years-old, had a five-year-old daughter, named Destiny, and still lived with her parents.  Moesha rarely stayed at a job long enough to accumulate vacation days, so far this year, she had four different jobs. 

Sawyer saw Marsha her wedding coordinator jogging towards her and she braced herself a second time.  In the eight months she had known her, Sawyer had never seen Marsha stroll or just putter along, she was always sprinting, and Sawyer never figured out if Marsha was running away or towards something.  None-the-less she had served as an awesome wedding coordinator.  And the feedback from the wedding party was that she was running the ceremony with an iron fist.

She came to a stop in front of Sawyer.  “You’re the prettiest bride I’ve ever seen,” she uttered reverently and Sawyer beamed.

Sawyer was sure that Marsha said the same thing to all her brides, but seeing the expression on Marsha’s face made her believe that she really was the prettiest bride in the world and that the compliment was genuine.  “Thank you.”

“Are you ready?  I think it’s about time we get started.”  Sawyer nodded and Marsha jetted over to the bridesmaids and began barking orders. 

“Ready girl?” Campbell grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her up, the dress clung to her curves so tightly that it felt like she had been wrapped in it, she was surprised that she was able to sit down in it. 

“Thanks!  This dress is so tight and must weigh at least twenty pounds,” Sawyer nervously fretted.

Campbell nodded towards a garment bag hanging on the wall across from them.  “You don’t have to wear it long.  You got your second dress,” she reminded her.

“Yeah, and I thought you were crazy when you said I should buy two dresses.  But you were right.  After sitting in this for an hour, I know now that I wouldn’t have been able to wear this all night long.  I’d be so aggravated that I’d probably rip it off halfway through the wedding.”

“That’s one way to get your honeymoon started early,” Campbell joked. 

Sawyer smiled weakly, she suddenly wished that she had eaten some of the cheese and crackers Marsha had ordered for her and the wedding party, but she had been too nervous to eat, now she was feeling lightheaded and all the food had been eaten.  She swayed lightly. 

Campbell wrapped her arm around her sister’s shoulders and let her lean on her for support.  “Hey you okay?” she whispered as the wedding party hurried past them.

“I’m fine, just hungry,” she answered and smiled ruefully.  “I should’ve eaten something.”

“Yeah, I told you, you never listen to me,” Campbell scolded again.  She reached into her clutch and pulled out a small packet of almonds.  “Here, munch on these.”

Sawyer was so grateful that she nearly burst into tears, but she didn’t want to ruin all the work her makeup artist had done, all she could manage, was, “Oh, Campbell.”

“Not a problem. Eat pretty fast otherwise Marsha’s gonna get you,” she teased.

Sawyer tore open the package and gobbled down the treat, she was just finishing when her mother approached her, she had broken free from the wedding party. 

Priscilla hugged her daughter.  “Congratulations!  You’re fortunate baby, you found yourself a good man.” 

“I know Mom.”  Her mother never let a day go by without telling her how lucky she was to have found Walt.  She made it a point to remind her that good Black men were hard to find. 

“I know you do.  Treat him right and take care of him.”

Sawyer resisted the urge to roll her eyes.  “I will Mom,” she said obediently.

Campbell squeezed her sister’s hand, she empathized with her, their mom had given her the same advice ten years ago when she and her husband, Milt had gotten married.  Sawyer gave her a grateful squeeze back.  “Let’s go,” she said softly.

Sawyer wrapped her arms around her new husband’s waist, laced her hands together, and pulled him closer.  Her wedding had exceeded her expectations.  She peeked around her husband and took in the room, three hundred of their loved ones filled the area.  The hotel’s bland ballroom had been transformed into a white and gold wonderland.  This is such a Barbie wedding, Sawyer thought giddily.  The whole room looked like a fluffy creamy confection.  She saw Marsha standing on the perimeter of the reception clutching her clipboard to her chest.  It looked like she was at the starting line and poised to sprint away at the sound of the starting gun.  Marsha stressed Sawyer out more than necessary, but Sawyer was very happy with the results Marsha had achieved.  Even though she knew that Marsha couldn’t see her, Sawyer smiled at her, a slow grateful smile.  It was already past one o’clock in the morning and the reception showed no sign of slowing down. 

“So are you happy Mrs. Spector?” Walt asked.

Sawyer grinned up at him.  “Yes, I am Mr. Spector, I’m ecstatic.”  And she was.  Walt was the man of her dreams.  Walt was her Ken.  She knew he was The One the first time they’d met.  Their meeting was like a ghetto fairy tale.  Sawyer, Campbell and a bunch of their friends had gone to Happy Hour at a popular club.  The evening had started off fun.  A radio personality from the city’s number one hip hop station was in the club playing music.  After a couple of hours the club was packed.  But even with the number of people, Sawyer couldn’t miss Walt.  He was in a group of giants, they were all easily over six feet and they all looked like they had healthy appetites.  She later learned that they were his brothers and his cousins; they were getting an early start on his brother’s bachelor party.

She had walked by him at least ten times before he stopped her and asked her for her name.  He later admitted to her that he had seen her the first time she had strolled by, but he had been too intimidated to talk to her.

They were squeezed into a corner talking, when someone fired a gun and that created pandemonium.  Without any hesitation, he had picked her up and she had pressed her face to his chest as he barreled his way through the chaos and out to safety.  He never made it to his brother’s bachelor party, he drove her to a coffee shop where they talked until it closed, then he followed her to her house, where they sat outside in his car until dawn.  She knew by then that she wanted to marry him.  He had asked her out for breakfast and they’d been together since. 

At three o’clock in the morning Sawyer and Walt stumbled to their honeymoon suite.  After much fumbling around in his tuxedo pocket for the key card and several attempts at opening the door, because everything was shifting and looked as though it was smeared with cooking oil, he finally opened it then scooped up his new wife and carried her across the threshold.  They fell onto the bed, a big heap of alcohol, giggles, and love. 

Walt cupped Sawyer’s face and drunkenly kissed her, he drew away and gazed into her eyes.  “I love you Mrs. Spector.”

Sawyer grinned tiredly at her husband.  “I love you too,” she said, then glanced shyly at him.  “I guess I’d better go change out of this dress.”  She nervously ran her hand over the slick surface of her dress, smoothing it down. 

Walt stroked his wife’s cheek.  “You look so beautiful just like this, don’t change,” he gently pleaded.

Sawyer smiled.  “I gotta babe…otherwise we can’t…”

“What?”

“You know,” she said, her voice coy.

“What?”

“Make love,” she said softly.  “We won’t be able to make love.”

“Oh yeah,” he said stupidly.

“Yeah, oh yeah,” she teased.  Sawyer kissed her husband then stood up.  “I’ll be right back,” she promised, then took measured steps towards the bathroom, careful not to break out in a run.  She let out a sigh of relief when she saw her overnight bag on the vanity.  In it was lingerie, perfume, and a few other goodies to make her honeymoon night memorable.  “Good job Campbell.”