12. House Call
HOUSE CALL
From the minute I accepted his weekend invitation, I understood that Cairo was asking me to move beyond a professional relationship. Because of that unspoken agreement, I packed adult items and did everything in my power to seduce him, but I couldn’t go through with it.
Last night, I wanted to strip him naked but knew if I rubbed his sturdy body much longer under those covers, I’d be sitting on his face, begging him to eat me out until I came and collapsed. Cairo’s heated eyes throughout the night confirmed he would take me if I let him.
I was more interested in him than any guy I’d ever known, but when the time came to show him that, I couldn’t fully expose my feelings. Call it responsibility or my conscience, but being uninhibited like that wasn’t comfortable for me.
At breakfast, I wanted to talk to Cairo like the mature adult I claimed to be, but my headspace wasn’t right. Cairo had been so kind and giving, not demanding anything of me, yet I could not be open and move forward with whatever was happening between us.
The feelings he pulled from me were so new I didn’t know what to do with them. He saw goodness in me that I didn’t think was always good. More than anything, I hated people putting me on a pedestal, and it felt like that was what Cairo was doing.
But I was the president of Liberation University. That meant something to me. Women in my position didn’t have sex with men the first night they met. Cairo and I hadn’t even gone out on a real date.
And no matter how horny I was and daring when it came to getting what I wanted, physically and emotionally, I couldn’t bypass the unfinished business in my life. At least I now knew I no longer wanted to be with Geoff. I needed time alone to process that.
As Mr. Wayne and I drove down the interstate and the Torch arena came into view to my left, I allowed the cool air of the vents in the back of the Bentley to wash over me. They brushed back tears as a fresh wave of regret and sadness overtook me.
Last night, Cairo and I started a spark of something, but I was too cowardly to explore if what we had could turn into a fire. To distract myself from the emotions attempting to suffocate me, I lowered my eyes to my phone.
Lena:
Did you get any? *tongue emoji*
I closed my eyes, wanting to brush off her question or lie to her, but Cairo was right. I needed to be more open and keep the mask off around those closest to me. Lena could always tell when I was lying anyway.
Me:
I fumbled the ball.
Lena:
Cool metaphor for a basketball player, but what REALLY happened?
Me:
Need to wrap stuff up with Geoff. It’s about doing things decently and in order.
Lena:
SISSY…in ORDER to get that more than DECENT man, drop Geoff’s trifling ass in the closest garbage can. Expeditiously. *trash emoji*
Me:
You’re right. Will keep you posted. In the car. Can’t talk.
Lena:
U got this.
As soon as I shut down my phone, I pulled out my work phone. Although I turned it off at Cairo’s, with instructions for Whitney to contact me if she needed anything, I figured there was no use ignoring it now that I was back in the real world of big responsibilities.
Calendar invitations for the upcoming week popped up, as well as emails from my provost and several students and faculty, with complaints about everything from poor housing conditions to a lack of shared governance regarding undergraduate curricular changes.
I delegated several of the tasks to my chief of staff and closed my inbox before becoming too overwhelmed by the amount of work I would have to catch up on this evening.
Like a medical doctor on call, the job of a university president never stopped, even if it was Sunday afternoon.
When we turned into my driveway twenty minutes later, I groaned. Geoff’s navy-blue Lamborghini was parked outside. He leaned against it with his legs and arms crossed, looking like a corporate police officer ready to pounce on somebody for driving under the influence.
“I’ll let you out behind his car,” Mr. Wayne said, frowning as he slowly entered my small driveway. “Are you going to be okay?” he added quickly, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror, no doubt picking up on Geoff’s sullen attitude.
“Geoff throws tantrums, but he’s harmless, Mr. Wayne. You can set my bags on the walkway, and I’ll have him help me take them into the house.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Once we parked, I thanked Mr. Wayne for his service. He gave Geoff a stern look. I made sure he was on his way before Geoff entered my home, rolling my suitcase behind me.
“Whose car is that, Zora?”
Instead of responding, I moved past Geoff into my living room and sat down. He was too overbearing to leave my house until he shared whatever was on his mind. It was better to get this argument over sooner than later.
“That’s none of your business. What I want to know is why were you standing outside my home, perched like a security guard overseeing your territory? I told you I was on vacation. How long have you been here?”
He sat beside me on the couch and frowned.
“Long enough to know you were in town and didn’t stay at your home two days.”
“Are you tracking me? Why are you in my business like that?”
To my surprise, he leaned into me and smiled, resting his hand on my shoulder.
With a soft touch, he caressed his thumb over the base of my neck several times, similar to how he massaged me before making love.
He positioned himself so close he could kiss me.
The overwhelming scent of his expensive cologne tickled my nose, but nothing about his move was sexy.
Instead of shivers of desire overcoming me, I was repulsed.
I backed away and held my hands up. When I grimaced and didn’t respond to his statement, he bared his glimmering white teeth.
“That’s how you’re going to treat me?” He released me with a chuckle and retrieved his phone from his pocket.
Within seconds, he held his device up and thrust a photo in my face.
“Why were you at a Torch game dressed like a hoochie last night? Were you staying at Lena’s house? Why didn’t you just say that instead of hiding from me?”
My eyes homed in on the picture that Shavonna had taken of us in the suite.
“First of all, I look darn cute in that picture. I don’t know why you don’t respect boundaries. What I did this weekend was private.” I turned my head from the photo, rolling my eyes at Geoff’s off behavior.
Over the past few months, I’d been holding my tongue too much. Today was the last straw for Geoff treating me like his child. I was tired of being afraid of speaking my truth because of my job and the fear that I might lose it without his help.
I knocked the phone out of his hand. He lifted his hand as if he was going to hit me but stopped when I reached for my purse and popped his hand back with it.
“I double dog dare you to misplace one hair on my head. I will call the police on you so damn fast you’ll see stars.
That would be after I knock all your teeth out of your head with my fist. You are a freakin’ stalker, acting like a lunatic and policing me like you don’t have a lick of sense.
Get the hell out of my house.” I rose with my arm outstretched and pointed my index finger toward the front exit.
He didn’t hop up immediately. Instead, he lowered his eyes and wiped the side of his mouth with his fingers as if I had actually punched him.
“Zora, I have a vested interest in Liberation since my great-great-grandfather was a founder. I come from Black royalty, something you wouldn’t understand.
You and this university are my business.
” He waved his hand in the air and gestured toward the bell tower that was visible from the window of my living room.
He raised his body and moved so close that his cologne engulfed me again.
“This is the last time I’m going to speak to you nicely. Get out of my house so I can get ready for the week.”
“That isn’t your home. You are a lessee, not an owner. Remember that the next time you go out nearly naked in person, representing this university—the one built on the backs of my ancestors.”
“Or what, Geoff? What the hell are you going to do with your highfalutin ass?”
He finally walked toward the door. I followed behind him.
“I’ll show you highfalutin. Don’t try me, bitch. I am better connected than you will ever be. I will make sure that once Liberation throws you out, you’ll never work in higher education again. You’ll be begging me to be your reference for a fry cook job at the new burger joint down the street.”
Today must have been the day for men calling me out. I was fed up with it. I let Cairo get by with it because even I agreed I wasn’t acting right, but Geoff messed with the right one and the wrong one today. Because of that, he would catch all the wrath that had been bubbling up in me all day.
“Your baldheaded Mama is the bitch. And are you threatening me?”
Geoff pointed at me, his chest puffing up like a rooster.
“I’ll let you have that one for free because you’re going to need all the luck you can get when I’m through with you.”
“Try Jesus, not me. And in case I didn’t make myself clear, what we had is over.”
“It sure as hell is. I don’t deal with two-faced whores who think they’re men when they aren’t even high-quality women. I hope that whoever had you on your back was worth it.”
Everything in me wanted to punch Geoff, but I didn’t want to catch a case. He wasn’t worth it. I could curse him out real good though.
“And I don’t deal with raggedy ass, trust fund babies who try to manipulate a woman running a university instead of earning the credentials to run that university themselves. Lose my number, Geoff.”
“Gladly.” He stormed out of the house and knocked over an antique vase of flowers on his way.
I rushed behind him and stepped over the broken crystal. Once the door was locked, I clutched my chest and willed my rapidly beating heart to slow down. This wasn’t going to end well.
Under the surface, Geoff always had a temper.
And he wasn’t lying about the power he wielded.
I’d seen him be mean as the devil toward his enemies.
That was one reason I hadn’t messed with him earlier.
I was one of his enemies now. If whatever he planned didn’t take me down, it would probably hurt me in a way I wouldn’t soon forget.