Groove

Chapter Ten

Ten

“You spoil me so, Zhan,” I purred when Zhan kissed the small of my back to let me know that my massage is over.

“Did you enjoy that?” he asked as I turned over on the massage table. I didn’t answer, but I gave him a satisfied smile. He bent and gave me a soft kiss on the mouth.

We were in his London flat, which was located on Cheval Place, an exclusive address in the Knightsbridge section of London.

I turned my head and looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows. It had rained every day since I’d gotten there, and today was no exception.

“You know I love touching your body, love,” Zhan said and bent to kiss me again.

“You have magic hands,” I murmured and eased myself up and onto my elbows. Zhan’s penis was rock hard, and so was mine. I bent my head and kissed the tip of his dick.

“Oooooh,” he moaned and his hands came up and began to stroke my face.

I thought, I am the luckiest man alive. Fab job, wonderful man, money in the bank. Healthy and good-looking. What more can a man ask for?

A woman!

The voice came out of nowhere, and I jerked my head back. “What did you say?” I asked Zhan, my eyes bulging.

Zhan’s hazel eyes were glazed over with pleasure, and he gave me a sexy look. “I didn’t say a word,” he whispered and tried to guide my head back down to his dick.

My eyes moved around the room. I am going crazy, I thought.

“Baby, I think you’re still jet-lagged,” he muttered and then moaned as my lips wrapped around the thick head of his member.

Yes, maybe I am, I thought, and swallowed him whole.

—

Zhan is a late sleeper. But me, I’m up with the sun. I can’t spend the whole morning in bed, even if it is with the man I love. So I got up and out, walking the streets of Knightsbridge, enjoying the first part of the day, which was, amazingly, free of rain.

I moved slowly down the cobblestone streets, absent-mindedly twirling my black umbrella as I went.

A spot of tea and a scone will do me just fine, I thought and then laughed to myself at my corny British accent.

I popped into a teahouse and settled myself down at the table closest to the door. A young Indian waiter approached me. “Can I help you, sir?”

“Yes, can I have a cup of black tea and a scone, please?”

“What type of scone would you like, sir?” he asked and pointed to the chalkboard hanging on the wall.

I perused it for a while and then said, “Um, chocolate, please.”

“Very good, sir.”

And jolly-ho to you too!

I like London, I really do. Well, I don’t like the weather, but the restaurants are great and the architecture is out of this world. I just love how the old and the new blend seamlessly together.

Could I live here? Well, maybe some of the time. Six months out of the year to start with, and then I would have to see from there.

If Zhan had his way, I would be living in London already. But I need some more time, and anyway, I still have this little problem of mine to deal with.

“Here you go, sir. Let me know if you need anything else,” the waiter said as he set a bamboo tray down before me.

“Thank you.”

I sipped my tea and nibbled on my scone as I watched the Londoners go by.

I like to people watch, but I really wished I’d brought a newspaper along to read.

I didn’t know what had been going on in the world.

All Zhan and I had been doing was taking long walks, eating, drinking, and making love.

The last time I’d watched television was before I boarded the Virgin Atlantic flight to get here.

“Noah?”

The sound of my name snatched me out of my musings and I looked up and into the warm brown eyes of a very good-looking black man.

“Yes?”

“Hey, I thought that was you.”

I looked a bit closer. “Oh my God!” I spouted and jumped up from the table, almost knocking over my pot of tea. “Will Somers!”

Will had been the love of my life, six years earlier.

I leaned in and we hugged. He still had that football physique.

“How have you been?” I asked after we broke our embrace.

“Good, good. Can’t complain one bit. And you?”

“Oh, I’m well,” I said and blushed a bit. He still had that dazzling smile that made me feel all tingly inside.

“So what are you doing in London?” he asked.

“Do you have a minute?” I asked and pointed to the extra chair.

He eyed it, threw a cautious look over his shoulder, and then shrugged. “Sure, why not? I got a little time,” he said and sat down.

What was that about?

“Well, I’m here visiting a friend,” I said and signaled for the waiter. “Can I get you something?”

“Oh no, nothing for me,” he said, and so I waved the waiter away.

“And you, why are you in London?”

“What friend? Do I know him?”

I threw him a quizzical look. Did he just totally avoid my question?

“Well,” I began and leaned back into my chair, “after you broke my heart, I—”

“Shhhh, don’t say stuff like that out loud,” he said and straightened his back so that his chest puffed out even further.

What was going on here?

“Don’t say stuff like what?” I questioned.

Will cleared his throat and threw another nervous look over his shoulder. “Nothing, nothing, man,” he said and tried to laugh it away, but I wasn’t having it.

“What’s wrong with you?” The annoyance in my voice was evident.

“Nothing, man, really,” he said as he kept his eyes focused on my scone.

“Okay, if you say so,” I said as I snatched at my napkin and began twirling it around my hand. “So why are you here in London?” I probed again.

It took a beat for Will to look me in the eye and another beat for him to answer me, and even then his words came out as a whisper.

“I’m getting married tomorrow.”

I laughed. I’d have to see a doctor when I got back home. Surely I was losing my mind.

“Did—did you say ‘married’?”

Will just nodded his head.

“To…to a man, right?”

He shook his head no, and I clutched my chest in horror. “A woman!” I squealed.

“Shhhh,” Will warned me again. “Yes. A woman.”

Okay, so it was a sickness. Maybe Will had started out the same way I had. A Beyoncé video, a little craving here, a little pussy there, and then total heterosexuality!

Now I was really scared.

“Are you serious?” I said, feeling a little faint.

“Yes, very,” he said, almost sadly.

“But why—” I started, when a woman walked through the door and called his name.

“Will, baby, there you are.”

Will abruptly stood up. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said as he caught her by the waist and planted a big wet one on her lips.

Was this show for me?

“Wow,” she said, a little more than dazzled.

I couldn’t really see her face. Will’s height and massive-size body blocked most of her from my view.

“Who’s this?” I heard her ask.

For a moment I didn’t think Will was going to turn around and introduce me. I thought he would just whisk her off her feet like Superman and leap into the sky. Anything not to have to introduce his wife-to-be to his ex–gay lover.

“Oh, baby, this is an old coworker of mine,” he started before he even turned around.

I tried to put on the most nonchalant face that I could muster so that when he stepped aside and his fiancée’s eyes met mine she would be none the wiser.

“Noah Bodison,” he said, finally turning around and moving aside, “this is my fiancée—”

“Merriwether Beacon,” I whispered in astonishment.

Will stopped short and his head swiveled in surprise. “Do you two know each other?”

Yes, we knew each other very well.

“I-I,” I started, in total shock.

Merriwether didn’t miss a beat. She smiled sweetly and approached me with open arms. I stood without knowing I had. “What a small, small world we live in,” she sang as she embraced me.

She pressed those size-D tits against my chest and the movie that was us less than six months ago clicked on and began to play in my head. I immediately recalled the stink of our X-rated sex and the cheap scent of her dime-store candles.

“It’s so nice to see you again, Noah.”

“I…I” was all I could say, still not knowing where we were going to go with this.

Will gave us both a quizzical look.

She turned to him and said, “Baby, Noah and I were on the same plane a few months ago.” I just stared. “Oh, Lord, Noah, where were we headed?” She looked at me for an answer.

Was I going to play a part in her evil doings? Who had made it her business to turn the homosexuals of the world straight, and, more important, who had granted her the powers to do so?

“Boston?” I squeaked.

Will’s eyes swung between Merriwether and me.

“Not Boston, silly. I haven’t been to Boston in years.

” She laughed, but I didn’t miss the evil eye she tossed me.

“It was Chicago. Yes, yes, it was Chicago.” She laughed again and moved toward Will’s side and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Noah and I sat together on that flight, and we talked all the way to Chicago.”

“Yes, yes, we did.” I nodded like some kind of machine.

“Oh, he was a pleasure to fly with, and fuh-nee ,” she said, slapping her thigh.

Will seemed to relax a bit. “Yeah, he is very funny,” he said, giving me a wry smile with a hidden meaning that I didn’t miss.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again, Noah,” Merriwether said before turning to her fiancé. “Will and I have a lot to do before the day is over.” She looked at Will and grinned and then back at me. “Did he tell you that we’re getting married tomorrow?”

“Oh yes, he did. Congratulations,” I said tightly.

“Thank you.” She beamed.

“Yeah, thanks, man, and hey, it was nice seeing you again,” Will said and extended his fist toward me.

What the hell was I supposed to do with that?

Slowly my right hand balled into a tight fist and came up and over the table. I leaned forward a bit so that our fists kissed—I mean, bumped—and then they were gone. Will threw a “Take care man” over his shoulder as they strolled through the door.

Merriwether Beacon—hmm, I mused as I sat back down and looked suspiciously around me. I wonder how many more of her kind are out there?