She smiled when she saw them walk through the door. When Ben called her and told her he was coming he didn�t tell her he was bringing Derek.
She calmly walked over to them, �Hi, how are you?� In a lower voice, �I didn�t know you were in town.�
He nodded as he looked around, �Yeah, surprise. Nice store.�
A customer walked in and her co-worker immediately greeted him, �Ok, now that you�ve cost me a customer and I do work on commission, you have to buy something.�
�Show me around.�
His smile, it was contagious. �What do you like?�
�I don�t know. Apparently I need a change so why don�t you tell me what you think I should wear.�
Another one bites the dust, she thought as she smiled. �Right this way then.�
She started with the shirts. He let her pick out a multi-green striped long sleeved shirt. She was surprised when he didn�t object. From there, it was a navy blue polo shirt. Then it was a long sleeved blue, white and gray shirt. He allowed her to pick out many shirts in many colors, even yellow but he absolutely refused pink. There was only one pair of pants that he was okay with and they were pewter. A few ties, a set of cufflinks and four sweaters later and he was done.
He handed her his credit card and she ran it through. He single-handedly was going to send her on a little shopping spree.
�I�m impressed.�
He shrugged, �You always are.�
She smiled, �Just when you're concerned.�
She handed him a pen and as he signed his name he asked, �What are you doing after work?�
�That sounds like a cheap pickup line.�
He held the credit card slip up after he signed it, �I am far from cheap.�
She shook her head as she took the slip, �I�m going home.�
�How about I meet you there?�
�Sounds like a date.�
He didn�t say anything for a moment and she was nervous about his reaction.
�Do you put out on the first date?�
She helped Derek and Ben gather his bags, �Never.�
He grunted, �Well, its not a date then.�
She rolled her eyes, �Pig.�
**
After work she went home but not before stopping to pick up something to eat for three.
They sat around the living room.
Derek sat down beside her, �Crab Rangoon?�
�Here you go.�
There was more than enough for three: shrimp tempura, spicy tuna rolls, hibachi steak and shrimp, pepper steak. Their eyes were definitely bigger than their stomachs.
�Ok, so Maleeyah looked you up on the Internet and it said you dated Mariah Carey and Jordana Brewster. Is that true?�
She wanted to kill Monica. Derek glanced at her and she just looked away.
�Yes.�
She could have told him he needed to give more than that. Monica wouldn�t let it end with a simple one word answer.
�What were they like?�
She nodded at him letting him know he had better just tell her something.
�They were both very sweet and very nice; nothing at all like what you hear about.�
Before Monica could interrogate him she jumped up,
�Have you ever seen Imitation of Life?�
He shook his head, �No, I don�t think so.�
Monica jumped up, �Prepare to cry. I, however, have seen it and I don�t want to cry so I think I�ll head to my room and watch some TV. Nice meeting you.�
�You too.�
Once she was out of the room he looked over at Maleeyah, �You looked me up on the Internet?�
�Only because Monica didn�t know who you were. Seems your star doesn�t shine as bright as it once did.�
�It shines bright enough.�
She sat back down next to him with the remote in her hand, �This is a good movie.�
�What�s it about?�
�A girl who is biracial and spends her life denying she�s black. Its good, its about more than that.�
They settled on the couch and she put her feet across his lap,
�Well damn, feel free.�
�Oh you don�t mind, quit whining.�
**
She turned off the DVD and sighed,
�Ah, it gets me every time.�
�That was deep. All that time hating your mom and then she�s gone. You realize all that hate wasn�t worth it but by then its too late.�
His words hit so close to home. She instantly thought of her father. It was different for her though. The girl in the movie, Sarah Jane, didn�t have a reason to despise her mother. She was angry because she was black. Maleeyah had a valid reason to hate her father and no one would blame her for it. He abandoned her. It was his actions that were the problem not her outlook. No one would accept their father back into their lives after being treated like nothing by him for so long.
�Hey, wake up.� He grabbed her feet and shook them.
She gave him a half smile. �Just a sad movie.�
�But definitely good.� He smiled at her, it was wicked.
�Why are you smiling?�
He didn�t say anything he just pulled her socks off.
�You have cute feet. I should have known when you didn�t try to stop me.�
Her eyes widened, �You have a foot fetish? Freak.�
He shook his head, �No, no foot fetish.�
She flipped through the channels, �Right there.�
She stopped at The Matrix. As they watched his hands lightly ran over her feet. She was engrossed in the movie and didn�t make anything of it until she felt the added pressure. He began to massage her feet.
�That feels good.�
She forgot all about the movie and her eyes closed. She felt like she was at a spa; his technique was ideal. She licked her lips and her mouth opened slightly as her breathing changed.
When she could hear her shallow breathing she snapped back to reality. She quickly regained her composure before opening her eyes; given the appearance all was well. She was glad he didn�t seem to notice as he continued watching the movie.
The lights were out but the reflection from the TV made him visible. He didn�t seem as if he was even aware that he was making her feel so good. She pulled her feet out of his lap and sat up.
�You okay?�
She nodded, �Yeah, just wanted to sit up.�
No need to start feeling horny, she thought, there�s no one sharing her bed.
041 | No Ordinary Girl