Chapter 12
The gym had always been my safe haven. Not only could I clear my mind, but I got a good workout in too. Crystal and I had become workout partners by accident. After showing her the ropes, I asked her if she would like to work out together. It worked out because the days she was in the gym were the same days Ivy was with Dos. Crystal was a fast learner. I would show her the proper technique and form and she could replicate it with ease. After a few weeks of working out with her I noticed that I could see some results.
“Damn Crystal. I see you ma,” I joked.
“What are you talking about, Umar?”
“Your waist. Its more defined.”
“Boy stop playing with me.” She brushed me off as she completed her reps.
“No, seriously. Come here and I’ll show you.”
She walked over to me. I was standing in the mirror doing deadlifts.
“Look.” I pointed to her waist; by standing behind her and cinching her t-shirt so she could see herself. The closeness of our bodies caused a reaction I was not anticipating. My dick jumped and pulsated through my grey shorts. I knew she felt it. I could tell by the way she stared at me in the mirror. I smiled and backed away. We both went back to our workouts. My body hadn’t responded to anyone other than Ivy in months. I hadn’t looked at any other woman since we entered into our arrangement. I was just as shocked as Crystal was.
I was packing up my workout bag and cleaning off that last piece of equipment when Crystal approached me.
“Umar, would you like to grab breakfast or coffee with me?”
I wanted to say no, but her eyes seemed so genuine, and she looked so innocent asking me that I said, “Sure, I’d love to.”
That was the first of several times we spent time together after our workouts. At first it was just breakfast or coffee. It quickly became lunch allowing us time to go home, shower and get dressed. We even had a few dinner dates. Crystal was intelligent, owned her own business and went to college in Rochester around the same time I was up at Alfred. We were surprised that we were just now running into each other. She was the only child and like me her parents were deceased. We had so much in common. I looked forward to seeing her weekly and spending time with her when I couldn’t be with Ivy.
Crystal called my cooking skills into question, so we made a bet at the gym, and she won. So, I agreed to cook her dinner. The club was shut down for the week as we did our annual cleaning, The club would be empty tonight, so I invited her to the club for dinner. I was dressed in a dark navy-blue suit with a white and navy striped button down. My cufflinks were silver and had my initials on them. I wore my Tom Ford brown loafers with the matching belt. It complimented the blue suit nicely. My twists were pulled up into a bun and my beard was freshly washed, trimmed and lined up.
I prepared lamb chops in a butter lemon sauce as an appetizer, a smoked gouda salad, red snapper with mango relish, spiced rice, and black beans. For dessert, my signature chocolate torte. By the time Crystal arrived the first course was ready. She looked completely different than any time I had seen her. Before she was in either gym clothes, or a sweatshirt and jeans. I had never seen her look so elegant. She wore a stunning yellow bodycon dress with a square neckline. The dress hugged her toned physique while not being overly sexy. She wore a pair of nude peep-toe shoes that accentuated her legs and pushed her ass out so that it was noticeable. A small gold chain wrapped around her neck while a pair of drop gold tone earrings hung from her ears. She was sexy, classy, and captivating all at the same time.
“Damn, all that was hiding under those baggy clothes,” I said as I greeted her. She blushed. “Oh, don’t be shy now. You chose to wear that stunning dress.”
“Umar, stop it.” She giggled.
“Naw ma’am. You look amazing. I said you would start to see results if you listened to me. And Damn I was right.”
She just looked at me and yes, I was checking her out. Crystal was a natural beauty. She was shaped like an old school Coke bottle. As she said, she jiggled just a little too much when she walked, but she jiggled in all the right places if you asked me. I was just helping her tone a few areas and define others as she worked out. I escorted her to her seat verifying that she still had a little jiggle in her step. It was the first time in months that I had allowed myself to not think of Ivy. And I had to admit it was freeing.
“So, this is your club.” Crystal looked around taking in the esthetics.
“What you’ve never been here before?”
“Once before. I’m not a club girlie. Give me a good book and a movie and I’m good at home.”
“I didn’t know that. And what kinds of books do you read?”
“I love them all, urban romance, erotica, thriller suspense you name it, if a black person wrote it, I’ll read it.”
“Ok. I’ll have to remember that.”
“And why would you need to do that?”
“Birthday, Christmas, anytime I have to give a gift, I like to make sure it’s something you would enjoy.”
“So, you cooking dinner and buying gifts.” She laughed. Her smile lit up the room. I never noticed just how easy my conversations were with her. I poured us some wine and brought out the appetizers and salad. We sat there and just talked. I wasn’t worried about hurt feelings or outshining someone. I was just being me, and Crystal seemed to appreciate that. We laughed and joked through our dinner. We talked about everything from exercising, nutrition and finally our dating life. I was completely honest when she asked me. I saw no reason to lie.
“So let me get this straight, you’re in a throuple with your brother and how is that going?”
“Not like I planned.”
“Do Tell,” she said, taking a sip of her wine and leaning in for more of my drama.
“All I can say is someone is going to get hurt. I need to end things before that happens. I care too much about the young lady, and my relationship with my brother is irreplaceable.
“Damn, this is better than any reality series I could watch at home.”
“It’s a fucking mess,” I confessed.
“You said it not me.” She giggled, which caused me to laugh.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but I’m not sure why you’re thanking me.”
“Just for being you.”
She smiled as our eyes met. I felt like I could breathe. When Ivy left I had turned off my heart. I became a version of myself that just did what needed to be done to get by. That fuck’em and leave’em shit was tired. I wasn’t that dude and was too old to be playing those games. When she returned there was too much damage and history to unpack, and we just covered it up thinking if we just buried it everything would be ok. And it wasn’t. We were doing more damage than good to each other.
I think Nana was right. She gave me so much to think about and tonight I saw something in myself I almost forgot was there. I was the catch. I was a born leader, and it was time I acted like I knew who I was.
Crystal helped me clear the dishes and we brought out the dessert and set it on the table. I stopped by the sound booth. I hit play on the Bluetooth button and the house music played softly through the surround speakers. “Would you like to dance?” I asked extending my hand to Crystal. I grabbed hold of her hand as she followed me to the dance floor. The dimly lit area had only one spotlight in the center of the floor. I stopped right there, allowing the light to shine on us as I pulled Crystal closer to me. She held on as the music played. Her five-foot six-inch height complemented my six-foot one frame.
“You smell so good,” she said taking in another whiff of my cologne.
“Thank you.”
“I..” my train of thought was interrupted when I looked up and saw Dos standing there. A wicked grin crossed his face. His presence caused me to stop dead in my tracks. I knew what that nigga was thinking. And yes, under the circumstances he would be right, well sort of. Either way I was going to have to explain this to him and it would be a good time for him to come clean about how he was feeling too. Neither one of us was innocent; we were just on different ends of the spectrum. Crystal stopped and looked at me and Dos.
“Crystal, this is my brother, Dos. Dos, my friend Crystal.”
“Dos, I’ve heard so much about you. Nice to meet you.”
“Crystal, so very nice to meet you.” He took her hand and kissed it.
“Don’t let me interrupt your evening. I just need to grab something, and I’ll be on my way.” He smirked as he walked away toward the offices.
“Excuse me, Crystal.”
“Sure.”
I walked after Dos. I finally caught up with him in the hallway leading to the offices.
“Nigga! You trippin.”
“I know, but so are you. I spoke with Nana.”
There was a look of panic on his face. “Meet me at my place for breakfast we got a lot to discuss.”
“Yeah, like that fine piece of ass Ivy doesn’t know about.” Dos laughed.
“Nigga, not a word of this until we talk.”
“Ok. But let me remind you we in a throuple. If you bringing Crystal into this shit, I get to fuck her first!” he laughed.
“Nigga, get out now! Tomorrow at nine.”
“Yup. I’ll be there.” He smirked.
Damn. This shit just got even more complex. Fuck.