Chapter 13 Alicia
What the hell have I done?
That was the loaded question I kept asking myself because I knew what would happen if I allowed Basil to keep working for me.
The attraction and chemistry had been brewing since the moment I saw him that day in the deli.
I would never admit that the day in the LEGO store, his words of affirmation, his looks, and the way he was with his nieces and nephews gave me a sense of peace when he spoke to me.
I tried to do everything in my power to avoid this from happening, but it was inevitable. The way he ate me like a perfectly seasoned neck bone had me now avoiding him at every turn. It had been two days since that night in the living room, and I had been hiding from him.
I hid in my bedroom until it was time for dinner, then I’d come down, avoiding eye contact and taking my food back up to my room. I knew it was childish not to talk to him about what happened, but I knew the moment we were alone, I was going to allow him to do more than just snatch my soul.
He was going to end up snatching my heart too.
Right now, Basil and Carsyn were gone with my dad, fishing. They left at six this morning, and I felt a bit of relief that I didn’t have to tiptoe around him.
The girls and I were in the living room, putting together a puzzle, when my cell rang.
When I looked at the caller ID and saw Raeley’s name, excitement coursed through me as I answered before the phone could ring a second time.
“Raeeee! I miss you, Cousin!”
“Ali Cat! I miss you mooore!”
“It’s crazy how I can’t talk to you like I want.” I pouted.
“I know, but that shit is coming to an end. It’s crazy how many brains I gotta save and how exhausted I be. But I told myself I was making time for my people from here on out.”
“I love that for us.”
“Me too. So, what have you been up to? What’s tea?”
“I hope you have time because the kettle is full.”
“I got an hour to spare, so pour me a cup, babes.”
I told the girls to play nice as I went out back and sat at the makeshift bar.
I made sure I kept my eyes on them while I proceeded to tell my cousin exactly what’d been going on.
The amount of “What?” and “I know you fucking lying!” that I heard from her let me know that she was highly upset.
I wanted to give her the bad first before I soothed her with the good.
Was letting Basil eat me out good though?
Once I told her about him up until two days ago, and how I’d been avoiding him, she was now invested in us rather than what Leo had done.
“Alicia, Alicia, Alicia. Now, I expect shit like this from me, but you? This doesn’t even sound like you. I am not opposed to you getting some new dick, but don’t fall for him. You’ve only known him a few weeks. You gotta vet his ass first. How is he with the kids?”
“They adore him, Rae. I shouldn’t have crossed the line with him. What if things don’t work out? Now my kids are yet again being left by someone they care about.”
“Do you think things won’t work out with him?”
“Honestly? No. He’s perfect. Carlee is attached to him already, and . . . I don’t know. I just don’t want to complicate things.”
“Send me a picture of him. I need to see if he’s the one to risk it all for.”
I giggled as I went through my photo gallery and sent her a photo of Basil with the kids when we were at Universal Studios. When the picture finally went through on her end, I could hear her soft whine.
“Aww, Ali Cat. The kids look so happy. And Jesus! I see why you couldn’t resist! This nigga is fine and look like he should be their daddy!”
“Rae, stooop!” I whined my damn self. I couldn’t deny that he did look like my kids belonged to him.
It was his aura and the way he cared for them as if they were his own that made me not want to give him up.
It was hard to find nannies who actually cared for children the way a parent would.
Basil came in and made this shit seem effortless.
He cooked, cleaned, helped them with homework, played with them whenever they asked, and sometimes, they didn’t even have to ask; he just did it.
His ability to tap into his inner child was amazing, but at the same time, he made sure to keep them focused.
In a way, I was glad he came into their lives because my children needed that masculine energy and discipline. Although I preferred a woman, Basil couldn’t have come at a better time to help me guide them in the right direction.
“I’m just speaking facts, Cousin. I need to meet him to feel his energy.”
“Oh em gee! You, Mom, and Dad said the same thing.” I laughed.
“We be knowing, Cuz. You’ve always been the hopeless romantic, and while nothing is wrong with that, we clearly see you chose wrong.
I love my little cousins, and I’m happy that they are here, but I wish you would have chosen a different daddy for them.
Leo is a ho-ass nigga, and if I see his tacky ass, I just might drug him and put his brain inside of a dog.
Motherfucka need to be with his species.
Dog-ass bastard. And to further my hate for him, I’m going to shave off his mama’s eyebrows and cut all of her hair off.
Dusty-ass bitch should’ve swallowed his ass. ”
I laughed so hard I almost pissed on myself. “I love you, Rae.”
“I love you more, bookie. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but it’s okay to have a little fun. You took his ass out of town, he paid for the house and has been buying the food and transportation. Baby, he deserves to dip his hand in the cookie jar.”
“When will you be free?” I deflected.
“I’m free this weekend, but you ain’t here.”
“I’ll be back Friday.”
“Oh, good! Let’s have a girls’ day with our moms. I know my mama miss me because she blows me up every day.”
I laughed. “That sounds like a plan.”
“Awesome. And stop avoiding the obvious, Ali. It’s okay to feel wanted and desired. Even if you treat this like a sneaky link, that’s perfectly okay.”
“But he works for me. I’m not the type to give myself to a man who doesn’t want commitment. I have three children to think about. I don’t want my emotions to complicate things, when I’m still on the road to a divorce.”
“Then you should have thought about that before you let him eat your vagina. I bet you any amount of money that his ass wants more of you. You let him taste the rainbow, and now he wants the pot of gold at the end.”
I laughed as we talked a bit more and then said our goodbyes.
While I enjoyed what I envisioned when I was in my bathtub after seeing him, I had to figure out if I wanted this to continue or ask him to resign and put someone else on the case.
While I may have been thinking about trading him, the kids’ distraction from their funky-ass father deterred those thoughts when I realized how happy they were with Basil.
I couldn’t take that away from them, no matter how much I wanted to.
Basil and Carsyn returned to the house around five that evening.
I made sure to leave a mess so Basil would be occupied with cleaning instead of my having to face him.
My son was so excited about their fishing trip that he told me all about it.
Having his grandfather and Basil take him fishing had him on cloud nine.
I loved that for my son. My brother always took him places, but he wasn’t the best person to give gems when he needed them.
My brother was still in his growing stages, so his idea of being an uncle was playing the game with him and teaching him how to play football.
Hearing Carsyn’s excitement made me smile because I loved this for him.
He was a growing boy who needed that fatherly figure in his life, and that was all I ever wanted for him.
I was still avoiding Basil since they had come back. I stayed in my room until dinner, which consisted of lasagna and house salad. I grabbed my plate and was about to leave the kitchen when Basil stopped me.
“Eat with us,” he said, lightly pulling me toward the table.
“I have a few things I need to catch up on,” I said, trying to head out of the dining room, but he stopped me.
“Alicia.”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve been eating in your room for the past two days. I thought we agreed that you’ll relax this week.”
“I am relaxing. I just have a few calls to make.”
“Can I speak to you in private for a second?”
“I can—”
“Gang,” he said, looking over at the kids.
“Yes?” Carsyn and Chloe replied in unison.
“Watch out for Lee Bear. Me and your mom will be right back, cool?”
“Okay, Mr. B. I got them,” Carsyn replied. Basil took my hand and led me down the hall to the billiard room. I was nervous as we entered the room, and he pinned me against the wall, out of sight.
“You can keep trying to avoid having a conversation with me, but we both know we need to have one. I know you may feel guilty about what you allowed me to do to you, but I have no regrets. I’ve been wanting to taste you since the moment I met you.
But I respected your boundaries. Now that we crossed that line, I’m trying to eat that shit every night. ”
“Basil . . .” I closed my eyes and pressed my thighs together.
“I’ve been going through withdrawals, Ms. Alicia.
That creamy-ass pussy on my tongue . . .
Mmm.” He moaned in my ear. “I need that.” The way his tongue slid from my neck to my ear before he sucked my earlobe melted me.
He secured his arm around my waist to prevent me from falling.
My knees went weak, and I couldn’t stop my hands from wrapping around his toned waist. His tongue slid across my bottom lip, and he sucked it into his mouth.
“Basil . . .” I breathed, pulling away.
“It’s Baye to you.”
“I—we can’t do this.”
“We can. I want to serve you, Ms. Alicia. Anything you need, I’m at your service. If you need that pussy ate, I got you. You want this dick, it’s available whenever you need it. Fuck that boss/employee business. Feel me?”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough. I know that I love your kids and will always make sure you and them are protected. Whatever you need, your wish is my command.”
“I’m scared. I don’t even know anything about you. I don’t know your family, your history, besides professionally, and I don’t know what your intentions are. I’m in the middle of a divorce . . . That should run you away from me. Obviously, I’m not wife material,” I told him, being honest.
“What did I tell you, Alicia?”
I noticed when he wasn’t in manny mode, he called me Alicia instead of putting the “miss” in front of my name. “You told me a lot of things.”
“I told you that you’re worthy of love. You’re worthy of being honored, uplifted, and protected.
The fact that you’re going through a divorce and still manage to pull yourself together every day for your kids is fucking admirable.
It shows me that you’re strong and able to withstand any storm that comes your way.
You’re a queen, and I’m ready and willing to do all the things that nigga wouldn’t do.
But I’m on your time. I’m patient and willing to wait for you whenever you’re ready.
If you need some validation, then let me be the one to tell you that that pussy is fucking delicious, and I can’t wait for you to sit it on my face. ”
“Mommy! Mr. B! Where are you?” Chloe called out.
Basil backed away from me and licked his lips. “If you think I’m coming on too strong, let me know. I know how to code-switch. The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable.”
I took a deep breath, then looked at him.
“Let’s slow it down. I don’t want to confuse my kids.
” As much as it hurt for me to say that, I knew I had to shut this down before it went any further.
Basil had the potential to make me fall.
I needed and wanted to get out of this divorce first before I even allowed him to think he had a chance with me.
Even with how Leo did me, I was still hurt behind it because I thought he was my everything.
I needed to know more about Basil to make sure I wasn’t making a mistake by allowing him to pursue me.
I couldn’t and wouldn’t go through another heartbreak.
So, even though I wanted to feel that magical tongue between my legs, I knew I had to play this smart, or I would, once again, put myself and my children through more bullshit that I didn’t want or need.