Chapter 5 #2
“I will read it the minute I sit down,” he promised.
“Whatever suits you.”
“Friday–” he cleared his throat. “I’ll be done with work on Friday.”
“Well, I should see you then, huh?”
Nodding, he smiled again, putting me back together little by little.
“You will see me then. There’s no doubt about that, Miss Summer.”
He inched away, trying to send me into cardiac arrest. I didn’t want him to leave so soon. However, I knew that duty called.
“I’ll text you when I get the chance.”
“Call me,” I demanded, “I can’t bear the thought of not hearing your voice two days in a row.”
He sniggered as he rounded the truck.
“I was thinking the same damn thing.”
“Muah.” I pressed my hand against my lips and then sent the virtual kiss in his direction.
He grabbed it and placed it right where I wanted it.
On his heart.
Good day, Mister.
Wednesday came so fast. Deep underneath the heated blanket Saul had left with me yesterday morning, I rubbed my feet together as I gave up trying to conceal the smile that pushed my lips backward on my face.
Saul’s words were better than those of my favorite romance novels.
I felt as though I was living in one. My very own Black romance novel.
The way your eyes crease in the corners when you smile… I really like that Summer.
The way you wear your hair, all of the ways you wear it… I really like that Summer.
The way your nose is always buried between a book… I like that too.
The way you dress…
The way you speak, so elegantly and so rarely…
The way you’re so reserved…
So guarded yet so relaxed…
The way your comfort is not a compromise you’re willing to take on…
The way you care for your father…
The way you’d rather be on your back porch in your own world than almost anywhere else in the world…
The way you think of me…
The way you move me…
I like that shit, Summer.
For twelve minutes and thirty-two seconds, I basked in the awakening of Saul’s words. His confessions were gold. The second I folded the piece of paper, I was ready to reopen it and read it once more. However, I decided to let it simmer in my spirit before taking it on again.
Thursday, I found myself on a blanket big enough for two with my new project in front of me.
On printed paper were the words of a fictional piece written by a young Black girl who had just entered her junior year of college.
Hadn’t I searched her name and browsed her website for her small biography, I would have thought the words came from a seasoned woman in her forties who was on the brink of a new breakthrough.
Janese was her name and she was a powerful storyteller.
The Diaries of Analeigh Wright was a story about a young college student on the verge of discovering herself when tragedy strikes and the opportunity to love threatens to pass her by.
Life makes the choice to let it go but when it comes back around, it’s so much more beautiful, refined, and regal.
The suitor isn’t the man she thought she was head over heels for.
It was a more mature version of him. A wealthier.
A wiser. A more calculated version of her silly crush.
It was his brother who graduated and returned to their hometown where she felt stuck since the day her mother was hit by a drunk driver and paralyzed from her neck down.
While everyone else, including Marcus, her high school crush had gone to their dream schools while she was left behind to care for the woman who care so deeply for her.
I flipped another page of the enthralling love story, completely forgetting where I was or why I was here.
The page-turner had me losing track of my progress and getting lost in the connection the two shared.
I’d wholeheartedly become a reader of Janese’s.
Her flawless document allowed me to remove my editor’s badge and tuck it underneath the sunvisor that shielded my eyes and face.
“Miss Summer.”
My body froze. The hairs stood on my neck. And, my nostrils widened.
I could smell his natural scent, telling me things I’d never been told before. Pursuing me like I’d never been pursued before. Promising to pleasure me like I’d never been pleasured before.
“Saul–”
This time, my blanket was big enough for two and my snacks were plentiful.
“Shouldn’t you be home working?” He asked, coming into full view.
“I am working. You should be doing the same.”
“Pulling away from the computer for a brain break and quick run was the best decision I’ve made this afternoon.”
“How much time do you have?”
He shook his head and responded, “None, but I will make time, Summer. You leave me no choice.”
“Ten minutes,” I demanded.
Kissing the skin of his teeth, hoping he could make up the time he’d lose, Saul agreed.
“Ten minutes, baby.”
“How long have you been running?”
“Thirty already.”
“You were headed back home?”
He nodded.
“To change and get back to the office. I have a few more hours of work for the day before I crash.”
Silently, I watched him grab the bottle of cold water. As he loosened the top, he pondered aloud.
“Come over tonight–”
“Tomorrow,” I insisted.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes. That’s the plan according to you. Besides, I want you to finish what you’re working on because I won’t accept divided attention.”
His smile pierced my heart.
“Work has had you all week. I want you all weekend. It’s only fair.”
Saul sipped from the water quietly. I didn’t take my eyes off his body.
His skin was flawless. His hairline wasn’t as crisp as usual.
I was slowly learning his routine. Tuesdays and Fridays.
That’s when he visited his barber. By the time I laid eyes on him tomorrow, it would be sharp enough to cut through a tire’s rubber.
“You want me all weekend?”
I nodded.
“I’m in no rush with you. With us. I can wait because I know you’re worthy. Torturing myself isn’t on my agenda. That’s all that can happen if I come over and end up in my own bed by morning.
“I’m not interested in a few hours of your time anymore, Saul. I want a few days before I release you to the world again. I want too much of you. Overdosing is my intention. So– tomorrow. I’m okay with that.”
“It just feels like forever since we’ve had a moment–” Saul started
“We’ve had moments all week. This is another moment.
We’ve created those pockets of time for each other all week.
And, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them all. Every moment.
But, moments aren’t enough for me anymore.
I want hours on hours on hours on hours on days on day on days.
I want to lose track of time. Track of me. Track of it all. All but you.”
“You gone make me put this shit off til next week,” he admitted, peering at me.
I shook my head. “I don’t want anything hanging over your head but me this weekend, Saul. Finish the job.”
His eyes grew a size larger. The water he’d just sipped slid down his throat faster than he’d imagined. His limbs stiffened. His chest inflated. And, a small cough pushed through his airway.
“You’re quite frank this afternoon, Miss Summer,” he coughed out.
“Ovulation leaves me weary with desires beyond my control. I’m in utter distress.”
“So you’re telling me I must be careful this weekend.”
“I’m not telling you that, Saul. I’m telling you that I want us to take our time this weekend. The rest is for you to figure out.”
“Noted.”
With a smile, he stared into the openness. Seconds passed before his eyes were on me again.
“You’re impressive and so damn unpredictable.”
Taking his compliment to heart, I shrugged.
“I am pretty predictable three weeks out of the month. This week isn’t one of them.”
Chuckling, he took another sip of his water.
“I think I like this week already.”
“It operates from a separate portion of my brain, or maybe not my brain at all.”
“I look forward to exploring those parts–all the parts.”
“I’ve imagined it at least a hundred times or more.”
“You’re not the only one.”
Silence created space for our thoughts. Desires. Fantasies.
Lust laced the air. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. I pulled my walls together with a squeeze of my vaginal muscles. My center was throbbing.
Ten minutes felt more like two. We spent most of it in our heads. Feeling. Being. Listening. Admiring. Lusting. Craving. When the time came, Saul stood on his feet. I swallowed back my anticipation. It had weakened me.
No rush, Summer.
I closed my eyes briefly to push back the mental block my arousal was forming. His softening log was still present. And, when he lowered his body in front of me, I almost asked him to disregard his tasks for the day.
“Thank you, Summer.”
Saul leaned forward and pressed his lips into mine. I wasn’t in control of myself. My right hand found his chin and my fingers rested against it softly, silently begging him not to disappear so soon.
My tongue parted his mouth, reminding him of my taste. Saul didn’t remove himself from my space until our mouths were sore and his feet had grown numb.
And there it was.
I observed as he adjusted himself in his pants. My breath hiked in my chest wishing I could assist. Saul’s head shook from one side to the other.
“You’re trouble, baby.”
“I don’t mean to be,” I confessed.
He took off in the other direction. It was the same direction he’d run in the day we met. Not quite ready for his departure, I sealed my lids.
“Saul,” I called out.
I heard his steps halt. So did my heart. I opened my eyes to find him staring back at me.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for what?”
“Agreeing to be my Summer, fall, winter, and spring. Muah!”
He blew a kiss.
I grabbed it, placing it right over my heart.
“Tomorrow,” he reminded me.
“Tomorrow.”