Chapter 15 #2
I didn’t realize how much I missed Ahmad until I was in his arms at this moment. Texting and Facetiming were cool, but nothing compared to being in his presence, with his arms around me.
“How was the shoot?” My smile grew thinking about the photoshoot today.
Everything went so well, and I couldn’t wait to fully review the pictures. Even Isabella’s mood had brightened up by the time it ended. Autumn was super happy with the results, and I hadn’t even done the edits yet.
“It was great. Your sister sells a lot of cute clothes!”
“I can’t wait to see your pictures.” He kissed me again and pulled on my bottom lip. That caused my sex to throb, but I kept it cool. I didn’t want us to be only about sex, no matter how much I enjoyed it and seemed to crave it.
Pulling back, I stared at him smirking.
“I didn’t cook, but I got pizza.”
“That’s cool, a nigga is starving.” He let me go and rubbed his stomach.
I grabbed his hand, about to lead him to my living room, when a knock on my door gained my attention.
“You expecting someone?” he asked me.
I paused and shook my head. “No.” Letting his hand go, I walked to the door and opened it.
“What’s up, baby!” My eyes widened when I noticed Kevin on the other side. He went to take a step toward me, but I held my arm out to stop him.
The nerve of him showing up here after he stood me up. I had wiped my hands with Kevin that night. He wasn’t worth the trouble.
“Why are you here?” I asked him, crossing my arms.
“Baby, I know I been MIA and you’re upset, but it wasn’t my fault. My wife’s been on some bullshit and I wasn’t able to get away, but I missed you.” He attempted to step towards me again, but just like the first time, I held my arm out to stop him. My face was blank as I stared at him.
Kevin was such a good-looking guy, but he wasn’t worth shit. I don’t even know why his wife stayed with him. I’m sure I wasn’t the first person he stepped out on her with.
“Kevin, I honestly don’t care. I told you I was done with you the day you stood me up. I don’t have time for a grown ass man playing games,” My nose scrunched, and mouth turned upside down.
Kevin stared at me like a sad puppy. “Fatima, I told you I was sorry. I don’t want to lose you.”
Arms wrapped around me, and that’s when I remembered Ahmad was there. My heart started beating faster. I knew he had to have heard me mention Kevin’s wife.
“Everything good, baby?” He kissed the side of my face. I laid my hand on top of his.
“Yeah, just getting rid of an unwanted guest.” I looked at Kevin and he looked like I had just punched him in the gut. “Kevin, I told you I wanted nothing else to do with you, so just leave.”
His eyes cut into slits. “So, you’ve moved on?”
“You act like we were together.”
“We basically were! Don’t act like I don’t care about you, Fatima! I told you I wanted to leave my wife for you!”
My body grew stiff. “And I told you I didn’t want that. We had sex, Kevin. I didn’t want anything serious with you. I’m sorry that you got that impression.”
“Aye, you heard what the hell she said. She doesn’t want you and she wants you to leave, so do that,” Ahmad finally spoke up. He unwrapped his arms from around me and stood next to me. I tried to read his face, but it was blank. I could only imagine what was going through his head.
“You told me you didn’t do relationships or anything serious, so who is he?”
“Don’t address her anymore. She said she didn’t want to be bothered by you, so respect that and take yo ass home to your wife.” Hearing Ahmad mention Kevin’s wife caused me to cringe. Now I knew some ill thoughts had to be going through his head.
Kevin looked at me one final time then nodded. “Remember, you made this decision Fatima,” he said.
“Bye Kevin.” A defeated expression formed on his face and he turned away.
Ahmad stepped away from the door and I closed it. Taking a deep breath, I had to mentally prepare myself to turn and look at him.
Like I thought, he was standing there glaring at me when I finally turned around.
“You want to explain that?” He nodded towards the door.
Wrapping my arms around myself, I began to rub them.
“Kevin and I used to sleep together. Nothing serious, only a few times a week. He’s married, as you heard.
I knew I didn’t want to be with him, and no feelings could be caught, so I didn’t have an issue with him being married.
” My eyes were on the floor as I spoke. Slowly I looked up at Ahmad, who was staring at me, confused.
“So, you were his mistress?”
“I mean, not really. We weren’t in a relationship. I don’t even care about Kevin. We slept together and that’s it. The night you saw me at the restaurant, I was waiting on him. He had asked me out, and I planned on cutting him off that night anyway, but he never showed up.”
Ahmad didn’t respond right away. He just stared at me. Part of me felt like I saw a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
“Did his wife know about you?” I shrugged.
“He told me she was suspicious or whatever. I don’t know if she knew for sure.”
“After what your mom went through, how could you put another woman through that?”
My face twisted up. I didn’t like that he was judging me right now.
No one knew I was dealing with Kevin because I knew they would have something to say about him being married.
Also, it wasn’t anyone’s business but mine.
Me telling Ahmad was me trying to let him in and keep it real, but he was staring at me like he was disgusted.
“I didn’t tell you all this so that you could judge me.
I know it was wrong, but I thought it was safer than messing with a nigga that could possibly catch feelings for me.
I wasn’t thinking about anything besides protecting myself.
If you’re going to judge me, then you can leave too,” I snapped and turned to open my door.
I wasn’t going to sit here and have him tell me what I already knew.
Part of the reason I wanted to end things with Kevin was that I was starting to feel guilty about his wife, especially when he mentioned she was starting to ask questions.
I didn’t want to break up a marriage like my dad’s mistress had.
At the time, hooking up with Kevin was just me being with someone that couldn’t get attached to me and vice versa.
I didn’t even expect it to go on this long.
Ahmad walked over, reached above me, and shut my door. I stared up at him, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Chill, I’m not trying to judge you. I was just trying to understand why you would stoop down to be someone’s mistress,” he explained. I was now pinned between him and the door.
One hand was still above me and he lifted his other hand to rub my cheek. “You’re better than that and deserve better than that.”
“I don’t know. I just figured since he was married that no emotions would ever get involved.” Now that I said it out loud, I realized how dumb that sounded.
“I get it, but you’re better than that. Any nigga that allows you to play second to anyone ain’t no real man.
You’re a diamond, Fatima, and should be treated like that.
Coming second to anyone, regardless of the reason, isn’t cool.
You’re so much more than that.” His words caused my stomach to flutter.
“My mom was right,” I said, shaking my head.
Ahmad raised an eyebrow. “About what?”
“She told me you would be the one to break down the wall around my heart.” Ahmad’s mouth raised into a smile.
“You talked to your mom about me?” He lowered his head until his face was closer to mine.
“No, I mean, kind of. I let your name slip one day and she ran with it,” I laughed nervously and looked off to the side.
Ahmad hooked his finger around my chin and turned my face to his. “You don’t have to get all embarrassed, pretty girl. Besides, I think yo mama was right. You’re opening up to me more every day.” He bent down and pecked my lips.
“She wants to meet you,” I said quietly.
He stared at me and licked his lips. “So, set it up.”
My eyes opened in shock. “For real?”
“Yeah, we’re doing whatever this is, right? If moms wants to meet me, then I’m down.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to him. “Unless that’s not what you want.”
I grabbed the bottom of his shirt and gripped it tightly while stepping closer to him. “It’s not that. I just...this is a big step for me. I’ve never taken anyone home to meet my mom. What does this mean?”
“It means we’re both figuring things out and opening up to each other to make whatever this is work.”
Slowly I nodded. “I’ll ask her when she’s free.”
Removing my hands from his shirt, I moved them to his face and pulled it down. “Thank you.” Stretching my neck, I kissed him.
Each time I spoke with Ahmad, my feelings grew for him.
He was so easy to be around, so easy to talk to that me trying not to fall for him was hard.
Ahmad always wanted what was best for me; that was shown before we started seeing each other.
From the moment he walked into the coffee shop and saw me upset, he tried to uplift me.
He reminded me a lot of Johnny. When he first started seeing my mom, she wasn’t open with him and had a lot of reservations, but I would hear him compliment her and tell her all the things he loved about her all the time.
My mom finally allowed him into her world, and I hadn’t seen the smile on her face disappear since then.
The way her mood would dramatically improve whenever Johnny was around was how I always felt when Ahmad was around.
He would make a bad day good with just his voice alone.
When I would have a long day at the coffee shop, he would talk me out of my bad mood.
Hearing how passionate he was about his tattooing always gave me motivation for my photography.
He was a great catch. I just hoped I was able to be the same thing for him.