When we exited the car, we headed straight for the elevator. Stenton was ahead of me, pushing the call button. While we waited mere seconds, our eyes locked. In an instant, I needed him. I didn’t know how to express my confusion or excitement of having him back, even if temporarily. I couldn’t articulate my appreciation of Stenton igniting my passion for intimacy…and hope. There were no words that could explain my desire for him in that moment.
As soon as the elevator door closed, he pounced on me. I didn’t mind because I had my own animalistic expressions to convey. By the time we made it up the one level, my pants were off, and by the time we made it past the threshold of the door, my bottom was completely bare as Stenton took me from behind, against the wall.
The next morning, I awakened alone in my bed. His weight and warmth were gone, but his scent lingered. It permeated the pillows and sheets, was smeared on my lips, neck, breasts and thighs. A ghostly sense of Stenton remained, so why did I feel bereft? Why did I feel alone again?
I shook that idea from my head and rubbed my eyes open. I glanced over at the nightstand and saw it was just after seven, plenty of time for me to do some cleaning before leaving for church. As I dragged my delicate limbs from the bed, I scolded myself for pining for him. He told me some time last night, in between lovemaking that he had training first thing this morning. I, myself, had church and work. We had to get back to our normal lives, no matter how difficult that would be after being entangled for over twenty-four hours.
It wasn’t supposed to be that complicated. From the moment I saw him at Hakim’s party and recognized that licentious slant in his eyes, I told myself I could only have one night with him. That was his only availability to me. But each minute we’d shared since had been more.
He made me feel as though I’d had my Stenton back. He was tender, attentive, even worshipful. Reminiscing over our times together alone was intoxicating. I didn’t know what to expect moving forward. Again, I had a full schedule with church and closing the bakery tonight. He had training most of the morning. We had to end our rendezvous, but Stenton asked if he could check in with me later on and I agreed.
Ughhhh! I didn’t know separating from him after such a short amount of time would be so hard.
As I stood for the bathroom, I noticed his Audemar on the nightstand. I chuckled until I passed the chaise next to the en suite bathroom door and I found his belt lying on the floor. Next to it was a trail of his clothes from Friday night. I immediately got a hunch that Stenton purposely left his clothing here. He could have easily taken them home when he stopped there this morning before training. I picked each item of clothing up and folded them neatly into a pile, including his boxers and socks. I could have easily slipped them in a bag and sent it to him the next time Jordan visited him. That was my sole thought of sanity concerning his leftover clothing. The unbalanced ones that came in spades were immediately dismissed. I couldn’t get caught up in Stenton anymore. He hadn’t chosen me.
He never chose me.
Those last two sentences became a mantra while I cleaned the apartment, on my ride to church, intermittently throughout service and into my afternoon shift. When I arrived at the bakery, Angela was putting a new batch of chocolate chip spearmint cupcakes into the industrial oven. She looked horrid and I told her so.
Angela wiped the sweat from above her mouth; I’d guessed from the heat getting to her. Her sweaty appearance aside, it was unfair how great she looked with a nude face, basketball tank, leggings, and a bandana wrapped around her forehead to keep hair from her face. Angela was still beautiful after having her world switch lanes just three years ago.
“You look to be glowing. I know you said you were with Stenton this weekend, but were you with him, too? A good fuck would explain the glow,” Angela observed as she gave me an intense onceover.